A PROJECT to build an extinct species monument on Portland will be officially launched tomorrow with the sounding of a bell.

Plans for the Mass Extinction Monitoring Observatory (MEMO) have been on the table for a while and earlier this year the proposal by sculptor Sebastian Brooke and his team were backed by the borough’s planning committee.

The 100ft-high tower and a biodiversity education centre will stand on a cliff on the edge of Bowers Quarry overlooking the Jurassic Coast.

A board of trustees for the project is being established and funding streams are being investigated with work to start building it expected to start in about 18 months.

At the centre of the monument will be a giant bell to be rung every time a species goes extinct.

A scale model of the bell, cast from a mould of stone in a technique not used since the Bronze Age, will be rung at Bowers Quarry tomorrow between 8am-9am to launch MEMO. Project organisers say the timing is significant as tomorrow is also the opening day of the Rio Earth Summit in Brazil.

Members of the public are invited to the quarry to ring the bell which Sebastian Brooke said “rings beautifully”.

Events will also be held at the site from Friday, August 3 to Sunday, August 5.

For more details visit memoproject.org