The British Herpetological Society

BHS donates £10,000 towards ARC effort to purchase more important heathland in Hampshire

In 2020, the BHS was pleased to be able to donate £25,000 to help the ARC purchase 50 acres of an important heathland site at Blackmoor in Hampshire.

See the original news article on this here: BHS contribution to Blackmoor purchase

In late 2023, an opportunity arose for ARC to purchase another 26 acres of the site, thereby significantly increasing the protection level. The BHS is delighted to have contributed £10,000 towards the ARC funding target , which has now been reached, so ensuring the additional land purchase can go ahead. This BHS funding has been made possible by a substantial legacy donation received from the late Michael Warburg, which the Society gratefully acknowledges.

From ARC:

`Blackmoor is an area of 41.66 hectares (103 acres) within the Woolmer Forest SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) in Hampshire. It is the only part of Woolmer Forest that is in private ownership. In 2019 with donations including one from the BHS, ARC was successful in purchasing 50 acres of the southern end of the site. More recently the landowner has agreed to sell a further 10.5 hectares (26 acres) of the site to ARC. This will enable ARC to own 75% of this important SSSI. The remaining 25% of the SSSI is subject to a 10 year licence agreement between the owner and ARC'