Wildlife Trust bid to save Yoesden, a jewel in the Chilterns

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has launched an appeal to save Yoesden, a precious wildlife site in the Chilterns, which is renowned for its variety of wild flowers, butterflies and moths on a chalk grassland bank.

Above this the ‘hanger’ woodland of beech, yew and whitebeam trees clothes the steep hillside that overlooks Radnage Valley. The Wildlife Trust has just a few weeks to raise £150,000 by 7 November and save Yoesden.

Estelle Bailey, chief executive of BBOWT, is leading the appeal. “Yoesden is a wonderful jewel in the Chilterns, full of colourful flowers and butterflies. When I visited the site in the summer I was delighted to see so many varieties of butterflies fluttering up from the pink and purple flowers of wild thyme and marjoram.

“The sounds of crickets and grasshoppers and the scent of wild herbs were amazing, and the views from the top of the bank looking across Radnage Valley are stunning. BBOWT has the opportunity now to protect this precious site for everyone to enjoy, and to look after it so that more wildlife can thrive here.”

Estelle Bailey added: “If our appeal is successful we plan to continue the careful management of Yoesden, which the current owners have done for the last 20 years, and to encourage more local people to get involved with conservation.”

There will be guided walks workshops and events, work parties to help control the scrub, and detailed surveying of the grassland so that it is kept in the best condition for flowers and herbs that provide essential food and shelter for butterflies and other insects.

Go to www.bbowt.org.uk/yoesden to see photos of this beautiful site, watch videos of BBOWT ecologist Debbie Lewis talk about the special wildlife here and what the Wildlife Trust will do to maintain the chalk grassland and woodland. Click on the Adonis blue butterfly to donate at www.justgiving.com/yoesden