Nature reserves are special places that are managed primarily for nature and wildlife. Across Somerset, there are hundreds of reserves, including the fantastic 66 sites we currently look after. Visiting these places can help you connect with nature and learn more about some of the incredible and varied species that call Somerset home.

Among these are the rare and vulnerable bittern, great white egret, large-blue butterfly, hazel dormouse, and adder, species which are all supported and protected within Somerset’s nature reserves.

However, isolated sites are not enough to reverse nature’s decline on their own. Fragmented habitats can cause significant and often catastrophic problems for many of our species, which is why we believe in an approach to land management that is all about being bigger, better, and more joined up.

This is the ethos behind ‘super’ National Nature Reserves (sNNRs), which bring together landowners and land managers to collaborate on a landscape-scale approach to nature conservation.

To celebrate National Nature Reserve Week, we’re focusing on Somerset’s two ‘super’ NNRs and some of the incredible partnership work that has already been carried out across the county to help bridge together some of our most important nature-rich sites.

Quick Jargon Buster:

• Nature reserve: an area of land managed primarily for nature, where specific plants or animals (or both) are protected.
• National Nature Reserve: a nationally important nature reserve, designated by Natural England as a key place for nature and wildlife.
• ‘Super’ National Nature Reserve: a larger, interconnected site that is made up of smaller national nature reserves, nature reserves, and nature-rich sites.

Somerset's Two 'super' NNRs:

In Somerset, there are currently two ‘super’ NNRs: Somerset Wetlands, which was declared in 2022 and is England’s third-largest ‘super’ NNR, and Mendip, which was declared in 2023 and encompasses the iconic Cheddar Gorge.

Somerset Wetlands

The Somerset Wetlands ‘super’ NNR links up six pre-existing NNRs on the Somerset Levels and Moors, including Westhay Moor. Additional nature reserves and nature-rich sites, including Catcott, were also included to form the ‘super’ NNR, which added 56% more land to the site.

Since the ‘super’ NNR was declared in 2022, it has been managed in partnership by Natural England, The Environment Agency, The National Trust, RSPB, The Hawk and Owl Trust, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and of course our own team at Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Recent partnership work has included:

• The Peat Restoration project, where ourselves and Natural England have been working to restore areas of peat through a technique called cell bunding.
• Joining up with Natural England and the RSPB to listen out for booming bitterns in annual surveys to tell us more about populations across the Somerset Levels.
• Learning together on a water vole training day, which included practical surveys out in the field.

Mendip

The Mendip ‘super’ NNR links up two pre-existing NNRs in the Mendip Hills National Landscape, as well as 29 other nature reserves and nature-rich sites. A significant 14 of our own nature reserves are part of this ‘super’ NNR, including Draycott Sleights, Ubley Warren, and Velvet Bottom.

This site became Somerset’s second ‘super’ NNR and is now managed in partnership by Natural England, The Mendip Hills National Landscape, The National Trust, Longleat and Cheddar Gorge Caves, Butterfly Conservation, The Woodland Trust, The South West Heritage Trust, Avon Wildlife Trust, and our own Mendip team.

Recent partnership work has included:

• Carrying out vital habitat management work to support hazel dormice, which we completed alongside The National Trust ranger team.
• Working with The Mendip Hills National Landscape team at Chancellor’s Farm to help enhance unimproved grassland on site.
• Collaborating across the partnership to discuss climate resilience in the Mendip Hills.
• Working with The Mendip Hills National Landscape to improve accessibility to Cooks Field and Deer Leap Nature Reserves.
• Discussing scrub management and conservation grazing regimes with Butterfly Conservation, with a focus on managing habitat for invertebrates.

Want to learn more?

Somerset’s two ‘super’ NNRs are a vital part of the Nature Recovery Network and can help us achieve our 30 by 30 ambitions for land under good management for nature. You can read more about the importance of a landscape-scale approach to nature conservation here.

You can find a full list of the NNRs and ‘super’ NNRs that have been declared in England here.

Visit a nature reserve