Open Country - Purbeck

In May 2008, a huge fire swept across Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve in Purbeck, Dorset, devastating acres of heathland rich in wildlife, rare reptiles and birds. It was estimated that the landscape could take up to 30 years to recover. Yet, in the right circumstances, fire is still used as a means of controlling the landscape to ensure a healthy environment for plants and wildlife. Helen Mark discovers more about the various forces at work in our nature reserves and begins by tracking down the increasing population of sika, the small Japanese deer that have taken up home on the moors and heaths. Left unmanaged, the deer can cause problems both for the heathland and for neighbouring farmers and so are now being monitored and managed through a programme of culling. Helen visits the scene of the devastating fire at Godlingston Heath to meet the people who dealt with the aftermath and who are still working to restore the landscape. She then canoes out onto freshwater Littlesea Lake in search of the invasive crassula plant, which can grow to a meter thick, taking oxygen from the water and suppressing other wild plants.