Hampshire reservoir set to be restored into wildlife haven
One of our reservoirs in Hampshire will undergo environmental restoration work in a bid to attract rare wildlife and fauna
Working with the Butterfly Conservation
Yew Hill Reservoir, south of Winchester near Oliver’s Battery is situated on chalk grassland which is an important habitat for rare species of fauna and butterflies. This is why we’re working closely with the Butterfly Conservation, to restore the site to its former glory following various works at the site over the last five years.
This work has involved sowing 80kg of wildflower seed, harvested locally from the from Butterfly Conservation's Magdalen Hill Down nature reserve just 6km away to the east of the city.
80kg of seeds planted
The reservoir has had a wide variety of wildflower planted including Sainfoin, Rough Hawkbit, Meadow Vetchling, Common Sorrel, Salad Burnet and Yellow Rattle. All of which will encourage wildlife and biodiversity - with the ultimate aim to have the same specialist butterflies that thrive at Magdalen Hill like Chalk Hill Blue, Grizzled Skipper and Green Hairstreak.
As part of the work we hired wildflower seed company Emorsgate, which brought a tractor to Magdalen Hill Down with a device called a brush cutter that harvested a 2.5 hectare area in July, collecting 80kg of seed to be planted at Yew Hill reservoir.
Image provided by: Ben Benatt
Butterfly Conservation South Downs Landscape Officer Fiona Scully said:
"Our Magdalen Hill Down reserve is a beautiful example of chalk grassland, bursting with native wildflowers, rare butterflies and moths. We are delighted to be able to share vital native wildflower seed which comes from the site, itself restored by donated seed from other nature reserves. This field is now helping create new wildlife habitat nearby, benefiting local butterflies, moths and the rest of the ecosystem."