An appeal has been launched by a conservation charity to raise money and help manage a Weymouth nature reserve.

The Dorset Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to raise £20,000 to hep manage the reserve at Lorton Meadows.

The reserve is home to a pair of barn owls, who have been residing there since 2010.

Last year the barn owns raised five owlets at Lorton Meadows, which was streamed live on the DWT webcam.

However, for the owls to continue to thrive at the reserve in the future, they are dependent on the quality of their immediate habitat for shelter and food.

DWT has been managing Lorton Meadows for 20 years this year, which has 75 hectares of flower-rich hay meadows, mature hedgerows and woodland.

These areas hold the small mammals that barn owls hunt, such as voles, mice and shrews.

DWT’s community conservation officer at Lorton Meadows Sam Dallimore said: “We were lucky to have five chicks hatch and fledge in 2017, which is amazing considering this is double the national average. However, barn owls are in decline nationally, which is in part caused by low food availability, due to loss of habitat. A barn owl’s range extends only about 1 kilometre from the nest site in the breeding season. Owlets have huge appetites and can eat their own weight of food in a single night.

“This is why we want to work even harder to ensure that these and other barn owls have the natural hunting habitat and feeding opportunities at Lorton Meadows.”

“Barn owls will only breed where food is abundant.”

Through this appeal, the team at Lorton Meadows hope funding will go towards:

n Reducing areas of encroaching scrub to increase areas of grassland where barn owls feed

n Putting up 1900 metres of fencing to maintain the grassland by cattle grazing and managing 300 metres of hedgerows on the site

The DWT has over 300 conservation volunteers who take part in volunteering activities.

The charity has asked the public to help them reach their fundraising targets. Visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/barnowl