Exmoor ponies help with Isle of Wight rewilding project

Two Exmoor ponies are getting their teeth stuck into vital conservation work on the Isle of Wight thanks to a little help from Wightlink.

Logan and Luther are the first two grazers to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s rewilding project at Wilder Little Duxmore and arrived on a Wightlink ferry. Wightlink helps support the Trust’s Wilder Wight and Wilder Seas visions by supporting the them with travel.

Their task is simple – nibble, browse and graze the land to encourage habitat restoration and help nature’s recovery.

It’s the first time that the Trust has used ponies to help with rewilding and they join the existing cohort of conservation grazing livestock, including native breeds of cattle and sheep.

In the coming months, they will also be joined on-site by saddleback pigs and belted Galloway cows, from Nunwell Home Farm, to play an important role in shaping the landscape for the benefit of local wildlife and the recovery of nature on the former arable farm.

Together they will create a mosaic habitat structure by browsing scrub and selectively grazing herbaceous vegetation, creating wallows in the land, or breaking up dense grasses to encourage botanical diversity, deploying livestock as ecosystem engineers can be hugely beneficial for wildlife.

Extensive grazing over a large area encourages biodiversity by helping to create the ideal conditions for a wide range of insects, birds, reptiles, and plants to exist.

The Trust purchased Little Duxmore back in 2020 and has seen dramatic results in the fight against pollution in the Solent. Specialists say the scheme, which saw 40 hectares of former farmland returned to nature, has far exceeded expectations and demonstrates the effectiveness of its rewilding project.  The results are the first in the UK to show such a significant decrease in soil mineral nitrogen at a rewilding project, with a drop of 47% in just under two years.

The introduction of the ponies – Britain’s oldest native breed – is being overseen by Jayne Chapman, Senior Nature Recovery Manager, and Jamie Marsh, Director of Wilder Wight and Wilder Seas.

Jayne said: “Exmoor ponies are selective grazers and will switch their diet according to the season, which encourages floral diversity.

“The ponies’ teeth are adapted to allow them to graze coarse vegetation like gorse, bramble and thistles that could otherwise overwhelm the heathland landscape.

“Their small, sharp hooves create bare ground and vital edge habitat in heathland, which can support rare invertebrates, birds, and low-growing plants.

“Another advantage of these semi-feral ponies is they are extremely hardy thanks to a supremely efficient double-layered winter coat that allows them to withstand harsh weather. They also avoid close contact with people, so co-exist well alongside visitors.”

Jamie Marsh added: “I am delighted that our first grazers have arrived on site and I’m looking forward to the other livestock arriving later this year.

“Wilder Little Duxmore has already been a huge success, it is fantastic to see wildlife returning and the restoration of natural habitats. Soil survey results from the site are the first in the UK to show such a significant decrease in soil mineral nitrogen, with an average drop of 47% in just under two years at Wilder Little Duxmore.

“With the help of these Exmoor ponies and the other livestock, we’re hoping to see new habitats emerging and wildlife flourishing.

“It’s not only the terrestrial environment that is benefitting from rewilding, the reduction of nutrients on site, particularly nitrates, will also help protect important marine habitats in the Solent.”

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