Kites Hill site gifted to trust (From Stroud News and Journal)

Kites Hill site gifted to trust

ACRES of breathtaking countryside near Painswick has been saved as a nature reserve after the land was gifted to global conservation charity the World Land Trust (WLT).

Landowner Jane Pointer, who had farmed the 40-acre Kites Hill site since 1959, decided to give it to the charity five years ago after seeing WLT's vital work in the endangered rainforests of Belize.

And on Friday, October 15 the charity officially unveiled the reserve, Bluebell Wood, their only one in the UK, which now sits bizarrely alongside gigantic reserves in Ecuador, India and Patagonia.

"This land is a watershed and must be kept as a watershed for ever and ever as far as I am concerned," said Ms Pointer. "It must be kept free from buildings.

"I have always loved nature and they have kept much the same as I had it - except for a few nice fences."

The reserve is the only World Land Trust site in the UK and by far the smallest of WLT's sites, dwarfed by the gigantic 3,800 hectare Tapichala reserve in Ecuador which is the charity's largest area of protected land.

Trust chairman Renton Righelato said he hoped the reserve, complete with a nature trail through stunning woodland, would help raise support for WLT projects elsewhere.

"We are using it as an educational resource to try and encourage people to take an interest in our environmental projects," he said. "It is a real wildlife haven and we are trying to make it even more interesting for people to look at."

Kites Hill was officially opened by Henry Elwes, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, who planted a special tree to mark the occasion.

"It is lovely to see another nature reserve in Gloucestershire," he said. "I am sure we all wish it well and I am very grateful to Jane Pointer for her generosity and enthusiasm." For more information on the WLT visit their website at www.worldlandtrust.org