Protection for a habitat which is far from common

Ever since Victorian times naturalists have loved Skipwith Common, one of the country's biggest tracts of lowland heath. They went there to hunt for the rare large heath butterfly and also for the emperor moth, the only member of the silk-moth family to be found in Britain.

Arachnologists loved Skipwith too. Hundreds of different species of spider have been identified among the 700 acres of heather, grasses, mosses, scrub, bogs and trees. As for birds, Skipwith Common has long been famous with birdwatchers hoping to hear and see the haunting nightjar.

After the Second World War, when the government was knocking out the details of the law which eventually set up National Parks, provision for National Nature Reserves (NNRs) was included. These were sites in England and Wales that required special protection for their wildlife, the jewels in the landscape's crown, and although the Common appeared on the provisional list it somehow never achieved NNR status.

But more than half a century later Skipwith, between York and Selby, has finally made it. And next weekend its new protected status is being celebrated with a programme of special events.

Lowland heaths are the last remnants of the English countryside as it used to be. Their dominant feature is large open areas of heather, normally associated with uplands. They are the UK's most threatened habitat, with around 90 per cent of them being lost to agriculture in the last 100 years.

In England, other well-known lowland heaths include Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, Thetford Forest in East Anglia and the Dorset coast. Large areas of the Vale of York once resembled Skipwith but now there are just three surviving lowland heaths, the others being at Allerthorpe near Pocklington and Strensall near York, both of which are Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The iconic bird of lowland heaths, the nightjar, has not bred at Skipwith for several years. However, birdwatchers are attracted by a breeding pair of the rare bird of prey, the hobby, as well as nesting long-eared owls. There are also around six pairs of woodlarks, and at dusk the normally secretive woodcock can be seen engaged in its famous "roding" display.

Skipwith is a guaranteed place to hear and see cuckoos every spring, and one of the best sites for warblers in Yorkshire.

Grass snakes, adders, common lizards and great-crested newts are all present, and the list of flora includes marsh gentian, broad-leaved helleborine, butterwort and the carnivorous sundew, which lures small insects by exuding sweet dew-like droplets.

There is also an unusual non-native species, the piri-piri burr, the seeds of which are said to have been brought to the UK on the boots of New Zealand airmen when some of Skipwith Common was used as an RAF base in World War Two.

The site is part of the local Escrick Park Estate, whose owner Charlie Forbes Adam has won several conservation awards. His estate will be responsible for on-the-ground work at the new NNR under Higher Level Stewardship agreements with the government's outdoors agency Natural England.

According to their senior warden for Skipwith Common, Craig Ralston, Escrick's site management will involve controlled grazing by rare breeds - principally longhorn cattle, Hebridean sheep and Exmoor ponies.

"They do a really good job," he says, "eating rough vegetation like birch seedlings and molinia grass which might otherwise take over and stop the heather and more interesting species from growing. Modern-day stock can't cope with eating much more than fine grasses."

Natural England will concentrate on improving footpath and boardwalk facilities, and also provide guided trails and interpretation displays. Their recently appointed education officer for the neighbouring Lower Derwent NNR will be responsible for promoting Skipwith Common in local schools and villages.

"It's not about bringing busloads of extra visitors here," Craig says. "What we're seeking to do is give a real quality experience to those people who already use Skipwith – not just naturalists but local people who come to walk their dogs. Many of them don't really know how special this place is and what there is to see. But, of course, we will balance this raising of Skipwith's profile with the vital interests of wildlife on the site."

The landscape will be fine-tuned to make it more appealing to some species. For example, a grazing regime on part of the Common has been designed to improve the habitat for nightjars in the hope that they will resume breeding after a gap of many years.

Also, there is work being done on one of the ponds to help a tiny creeping fern known as pillwort, which is on the verge of extinction in Europe.

In April two common cranes turned up at Skipwith and started their breeding display before moving on, and there are hopes that those already nesting at Thorne and Hatfield Moors in South Yorkshire will move north. The arrival of cranes, normally associated with wetlands in warmer climates, was a reminder that Skipwith's wildlife could reflect global warming in future decades.

"We might see big changes later in the century," Craig says. "It will become too warm to support oak and birch trees, so we'll probably see more pines. And a bird like the Dartford warbler, which is associated with lowland heaths in the south of England, may very well move north to Skipwith."

Skipwith Common – Events

Saturday May 15

Skipwith Village: Sheepdog trials; birds of prey demonstrations; shows of local rare breed sheep, cattle and ponies.

Skipwith Common: Learn to read the hidden signs of the past with archaeological digs. Participate in ancient skills like felting and willow weaving.

Sunday May 16

Skipwith Common: Dawn Chorus Walk. Meet 5am in the Drovers Arms car park, Skipwith. Listen as the nocturnal owls give way to familiar song birds. A two-hour circular walk on easy surfaces with breakfast at The Drovers.

Skipwith Village and Common: Pond dipping, hunting for grass snakes, picnics.

Directions. From the north Skipwith Common is reached via the A19 by taking a signposted left-hand turn on a minor road at Escrick. From the south, turn right from the A19 on to the A163 road to Bubwith and Market Weighton, then a signposted minor road on the left.

CW 8/5/10