Souls Moor, a 6-acre strip of stream-side pasture in Bere Regis, is now in the ownership of the village in perpetuity, thanks to the efforts of Bere Regis Parish Council and support from Valencia Communities Fund. Keen to secure the land for the benefit of the local community, the parish council put together a bid to purchase the land, outlining their plans to create a community space and nature reserve, whilst maintaining the land’s rights of way that link the North and South of the village.
Part of the land has SNCI status, so, prior to purchase, local volunteers met on the site during BioBlitz Day in September 2011. This consisted of shrub clearing and biodiversity assessments, during which plants like Southern Marsh Orchid and Yellow Iris were found.
This galvanised the local community into supporting the purchase of the site, and Souls Moor was bought in November 2012. Areas of Souls Moor had been allowed to become overgrown, smothering some of the rarer species of flora to the extent that some species remain only as isolated plants.
To restore these populations to the site, further shrub clearance by volunteers took place in February 2013, in preparation for the installation of new fencing and grazing by cows, helping to reverse fifteen years of neglect by managing the site to the benefit of local wildlife.
The eventual aim is to create a Village Nature Reserve, with full pedestrian access and further clearance to create a village open space.
