Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s dormouse project to feature on Countryfile

A film crew from Countryfile has visited Bradfield Woods Picture: Andrew Mutimer (Image: (c) copyright citizenside.com)

A crew, including presenter Margherita Taylor, filmed in the woods near Bury St Edmunds at the start of November this year to learn about a pioneering new dormouse project and how traditional management through coppicing the woodland is vital for the species that live in Bradfield.

The show, which broadcasts to audiences of up to 9.6million people, will be screened on BBC One this Sunday at 7pm.

The dormouse project focuses on a new way of surveying for the mammal, which is listed as rare and vulnerable to extinction in the UK by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

Giles Cawston, the Trust’s woodlands warden, said the visit from Countryfile was recognition of the importance of Bradfield Woods and the way it is managed for wildlife.

Hazel dormice are rare and vulnerable to extinction according to the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species. Picture: Hattie Spray/PTES/PA Wire

He added: “Bradfield Woods is a special place. The trees are living history and some of the old ash here have been coppiced for building and fuel for at least 800 years.

“By continuing to manage the woods in the same way, we are keeping alive a part of Suffolk’s heritage. But perhaps more importantly we are also maintaining habitat for species, such as the rare hazel dormice, which have thrived in the conditions created by coppicing.”

Sunday’s broadcast will be the second time the Trust has featured on Countryfile in 2018. Earlier this year, the Trust’s Ali North was interviewed about a scheme to make Ipswich the UK’s most hedgehog-friendly town.

In 2017 Countryfile also ran an item on Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s push to develop Carlton Marshes near Lowestoft into a landscape-sized reserve.

Dormouse Picture: Alison Looser (Image: Copyright Alison Looser. All rights reserved)

Bradfield Woods Picture; Phil Morley (Image: Archant)