Giant Hill Cerne Abbas - Duke of Burgundy habitat enhancement project

Giant Hill, Cerne Abbas

This is the third of the five sites we will be working on in this exciting new project funded through the Dorset AONB with a FIPL grant.We have already carried out two days of work on Red Post Hill at Up Sydling and a day on Black Hill at Cerne Abbas.

We have funding to carry out emergency habitat management for Dorset’s most endangered butterfly species: the Duke of Burgundy. This butterfly is now reduced to six small colonies in the county, all of which require careful management to maintain suitable habitat. We have a grant to carry out scrub control on several of these sites during the coming winter, which will greatly increase the butterfly’s chances of survival. The work is funded under a Farming in Protected Landscapes (FIPL) grant awarded to Hilfield Friary, in conjunction with the Dorset Branch of Butterfly Conservation and EuCAN CIC.

We are looking for practical support from as many people as possible at this site and the other two. Please get in touch with Martin Warren if you would like to find out more. martinswarren@btinternet.com

The other sites which we shall be visiting over the coming weeks are: Telegraph Hill near Hilfield, and Langford Hill near Stratton.

Meet at 9am in the Cerne Abbas village hall carpark; for the google map, click on the site name above. From there we will walk along the headland running N on the lower edge of the down as shown on the map.

Please bring your refreshments and lunch with you and PPE if you will be working with power tools (certificated users only). It will help us with the planning (though not essential) if you let us know that you are hoping to join us.