Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is delighted to have taken over the management of a group of amazing nature reserves on the Isle of Wight from the Wight Nature Fund.

The nature reserves, located in the Eastern Yar Valley near Sandown, include Alverstone Mead (which is owned by the Trust), Bensteads Marsh, Youngwoods Copse, Bretts Meadow and the SSSI land adjoining the Alverstone cycle track. 

Wight Nature Fund was formed 31 years ago and took on the lease of Mill Copse at Yarmouth as their first reserve (which Wight Nature Fund still has),  They acquired Alverstone Mead in 1995, followed by the other areas. The Alverstone Mead complex has been handed over to the Trust as part of a succession plan to secure the future of the reserves. The Wight Nature Fund has also given the Trust a generous legacy gift, which was left to the Wight Nature Fund by Miss Joan Barnes, which will help fund future land purchases and land management on the Island.

Mary Edmunds, acting secretary of WNF, said: "The trustees have been concerned about succession and have reviewed the WNF's future as an independent organisation. It was felt these reserves are best managed as one. We thank the numerous volunteers and conservation groups that have supported us and worked with us for the past 31 years. We know we have all contributed to the preservation of some of the Island's countryside for the benefit of the wildlife and the many people who have visited the sites over the years."

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Trust’s Deputy Director of Estates & Conservation Delivery, Jamie Marsh, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Wight Nature Fund for entrusting us with these wonderful nature reserves. We would also like to thank all those people and organisations who have given their time to protect these wonderful nature reserves over the past 30 years. These reserves are crucial to the recovery of our ecosystems and the conservation of nature on the Island. We look forward to continuing to work with the Wight Nature Fund volunteers and supporters to protect these reserves for future generations.”

“There is huge potential to make the Island richer for wildlife and plans for a Wilder Wight are a top priority for the Trust. We want to see wildlife recovering across at least 30% of land and sea. The Island is also central to the Trust’s strategic ambitions for rewilding and restoring missing species, such as the beaver. The Trust has big ambitions for the Eastern Yar Valley and has been acquiring land to create a Nature Recovery Network. The Alverstone Mead complex of reserves are vital pieces of the jigsaw, and they will play an important role in plans for a Wilder Wight by joining up the wider landscape, helping local wildlife recover and making nature more resilient.”