(Motorsports news) Extreme E will be with the National Trust for its Dorset Legacy Programme in an effort to improve biodiversity in the UK.
The National Trust is a 126 year old charity that aims to protect and conserve important landscapes, habitats and historic sites. As one of the largest landowners in the UK, almost 250,000 hectares and 780 miles of coastline fall under the Trust’s protection and care to help people and nature thrive.
Purbeck Heaths in Dorset is where the National Trust has worked in partnership with six other landowners to create the UK’s first ‘super’ National Nature Reserve. Spread across 8,231 acres, the reserve brings together 11 essential wildlife habitats and includes iconic reserves such as Hartland Moor, Arne, Brownsea Island and Studland and Godlingston Heaths.
The National Trust is hoping to reintroduce beavers to Purbeck next year, in the wetlands at the heart of the Studland’s dune system. This is just one of a number of projects across the reserve aimed to restore natural ecological processes and help this already special landscape become even richer in nature.
Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO at Extreme E, said: “Through our Legacy Programme and the Jurassic X Prix, we aim to highlight the issues surrounding biodiversity in the UK. We are delighted that our work in Dorset will see us support the National Trust, who are planning to reintroduce beavers to the area.
“We have made it to the final race of the very first season, which will take place on MOD land at Bovingdon, and I think I speak for everyone at Extreme E when I say how proud I am of all that we’ve achieved this year, both on and off the course, with support for important projects such as this.
“I’m excited to see what we can achieve alongside an organisation with such high standards of conservation and curatorial care which has been recognised throughout the world.”
Biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem is critical for human existence, economic prosperity, and a good quality of life. And yet, biodiversity is currently dying at an alarming rate than at any time in human history.
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with 10 per cent globally and in the bottom among the G7 group of nations. Only 50.3 percent of biodiversity remains in the UK, with 15 percent of the species remaining said to be in danger of extinction.
David Brown, Landscape Partnership Manager at the National Trust, said: “Next year we hope to release three pairs of beavers in the wetlands around Little Sea, to improve the biodiversity of Studland’s dune system and the surrounding area.
“Beavers are nature’s water engineers. Once introduced they would open hundreds of hectares of wetlands that have been in ecological decline for decades, restoring freshwater fen and pool habitats for other wildlife. As they naturalise watercourses that have been canalised over the centuries, they would improve water quality and carbon storage while reducing flood risk.”
Extreme E’s efforts with the National Trust to install protective measures to make sure the beavers will not negatively impact local people, businesses or farmers, and to carry out engagement programmes in coordination with the local community.
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