 |
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME INFO |
|
|
|
|
|
The Living World is a gentle, weekend natural history programme, which aims to broadcast the best, most intimate wild encounters with British wildlife. In this series Lionel Kelleway watches the blackbird, tracks hedgehogs at night, looks at terns and explores Yarner Wood.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN 25 min |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
"The Living World is the next best thing to being there. Our contributors are skilled naturalists who are able to reveal those fascinating facts about animals and plants that you don't always find in books. It's like having a personal guided tour of the countryside, without needing to leave the house."
Lionel Kelleway
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME DETAILS |
|
|
|
|
Yarner Wood
In 1952 Yarner Wood became one of the first six places in England to be declared as a National Nature Reserve, but its value as an ancient oak woodland in Europe was not to be recognised until several decades later.
Yarner Wood was listed in the inventory of Edward VI’s forests in the 16th Century. It survived intense pressure from charcoal-making and coppicing in the 18th and 19th Centuries. In 1950 its National Nature Reserve status saved it from a proposal to re-plant Yarner with non-native conifers. Despite this protection it then lost many of its mature oaks and transitional woodland-moorland zone through a mistaken assumption that the wood was artificially grown for charcoal production.
Today Yarner Wood forms part of the 365 hectare East Dartmoor Woods & Heaths National Nature Reserve which is owned and managed by English Nature. English Nature’s management aims to "build on the natural strengths of the site rather than trying to alter its fundamental nature". It is also now part of a European Union candidate Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, awarding the wood the highest possible level of legal protection.
Lionel Kelleway travels to Dartmoor to meet Phil Page, English Nature’s South Devon Reserves Manager.
Together they go on a journey of exploration to encounter the rich diversity of life that is Yarner Wood, from trees and mosses to ants and nesting birds, and crucially to take stock of the real value of one of England’s last remaining oak woodlands.
|
|
|
RELATED LINKS
English Nature - Yarner Wood
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
|
|
|
|
|
