Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has announced that a new nature reserve will open in the Yorkshire Dales, joining over 100 existing YWT reserves across the region.
The new reserve, known as Park Gill, is located right next to Kettlewell – and is a Y-shaped limestone valley which will be restored into a temperate rainforest. A rare habitat in Yorkshire, the new nature reserve will allow Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to expand on the habitat, which, as a result, will become a “vital oasis for wildlife”.
Over the next year, the team will survey the area to ensure that trees are planted in the correct place, protecting grasslands and nesting areas. It’s hoped that in time, the ‘rainforest’ – which will be planted along the valley and its steep curves – will lead to cool, humid conditions characteristic of a temperate rainforest.
Temperate rainforests typically house a diverse array of mosses, lichens, and liverworts, alongside small plants and ferns that meander up tree trunks and along the forest floor. This type of habitat previously thrived in the Western side of the British Isles, but was destroyed to make way for new uses.
Wildlife that typically inhabit these habitats include red squirrels, pine martens, and threatened birds such as wood warblers, redstarts, and pied flycatchers.
Park Gill already has fragmented patches of temperate rainforest, with caves, streams and rare wildflowers embellishing the site. Rare animals such as short-eared owls have already been spotted on-site.
Jono Leadley, North Regional Manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, says: “Temperate rainforest is a particularly rare habitat in Yorkshire, with only a few tiny patches scattered in sheltered pockets in the western Dales, and this new reserve gives us a great opportunity to restore and expand this fantastic habitat.
“Woodland is at a premium in this part of the Dales, and species such as black grouse which cling on in the area will also benefit from more berry-bearing bushes such as hawthorn in the landscape. This new reserve promises to be a vital oasis for wildlife in the Dales, and we cannot wait to see what wildlife it attracts as a result.”
The new reserve will be created in partnership with Aviva, with match-funding by The United Bank of Carbon.
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