Sandlings Heaths and Forests Suffolk WT cpt Steve Aylward
visitors will be able to walk out into a wildlife-rich countryside...
Suffolk Wildlife Trust
It’s easy to lose yourself in the rich purple landscape of Suffolk’s internationally important coastal heaths.
Yet these evocative sites are only fragments of what there once was.
Our aim is to reconnect these fragmented sites on a landscape scale to create the largest unbroken tract of heathland in Suffolk.
Today the UK has more than 20 % of the world resource of lowland heath, and the Sandlings represent 4% of the UK total - almost 1% of the world resource.
Local people and visitors will be able to walk out into a wildlife-rich countryside which stretches for miles and supports buoyant populations of heathland specialists such as nightjar, woodlark, Dartford warbler, adder and the silver-studded blue butterfly.
Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane
What's happening?
This scheme will reduce the fragmentation of the heathland through habitat restoration and creation. The Trust also aims to improve management of visitor access to reduce impacts on sensitive areas and species and make it easier for local people and visitors to be able to walk out into a wildlife-rich countryside.
With over 20 years' experience of heathland restoration and grazing, we use our sheep flock and Exmoor ponies to graze sites across the Sandlings, helping community groups and private landowners to maintain their heaths.
Scheme area: 4,000 hectares
Trust reserves within the scheme
Sutton & Hollesley Commons, Blaxhall Common, Tunstall-Blaxhall Link
This scheme is helping species including...
Nightjar, woodlark, Dartford warbler (locally extinct in 1920s and now re-colonised), important reptile and invertebrate populations inc. antlion, which is not known to breed anywhere else in the UK, and the silver-studded blue butterfly.
Current threats to the landscape
Habitat fragmentation, tree/scrub encroachment
This scheme is also...
Helping wildlife adapt to climate change, improving access for people, providing recreational opportunities, health benefits and environmental education.
Partners
Natural England, Forestry Commission, RSPB, Local Authorities, Suffolk Coasts and Heaths AONB, Broxtead Estate, local landowners.
To find out more
Email: info@suffolkwildlifetrust.org | Tel: 01473 890089 | Sandlings Heaths and Forests
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 Adam Cormack.JPG)