Surrey down land purchase links important wildlife habitats

03/10/2008 10:56:42 Fraser Down connects Betchworth Quarry to Dawcombe

September 2008. Surrey Wildlife Trust is thrilled to announce that, thanks to funding from Banister Charitable Trust and an individual benefactor, it has finally bought the important site of Fraser Down near Headley in Surrey, after 10 years of discussion with the owners.

Fraser Downs. Credit Surrey Wildlife Trust.

Silver spotted skipper butterfly
SWT has managed and restored habitats, particularly chalk grassland, at the neighbouring sites of Dawcombe and Betchworth Quarry for many years. Joining up sites is important in providing viable habitat for some of the rarer species such as the silver spotted skipper butterfly which is found on Betchworth and Dawcombe. This is known as the ‘Living Landscapes' approach to managing land i.e. creating larger, inter-connected areas, so that species can move through the landscape. The Trust now manages most of the stretch of the North Downs that runs from Duke Plantation (owned by Surrey County Council) in the west, to Dawcombe in the East.

Natural England assessed the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Fraser Down and found it to be in "unfavourable" condition because of the coverage of scrub. Clearly action was needed to reverse this and protect or bring back certain important grassland species.

Restore grassland
Now that the Trust has ownership, it aims to restore the chalk grassland areas by employing contractors and volunteers to clear the scrub and set up the necessary infrastructure for grazing management, as this is the most sustainable way of maintaining the grassland habitat.

Yew woodland
The small amount of woodland on the site is also important, much of it being yew - an important feature of the North Downs and our longest living species of native tree - with folklore and pagan associations. Woodland management will concentrate on reducing the spread of invasive non-native species and retaining dead wood habitats for invertebrates, fungi and bats.

Mark Pearson, SWT Director of Countryside Management, said ‘This is a wonderful addition to the suite of sites within the immediate area and almost completes a series of linked sites in this attractive section of the North Downs. We are very grateful to the Banister Charitable Trust for their generous contribution and can now start to turn our attention to restoring the valuable chalk grassland and the area of Yew Woodland'.