Environment secretary
credits innovative farming methods for apparent resurgence in harvest mice in
Hampshire
12:01AM GMT 22 Jan 2016
Harvest mice have been
rediscovered in the village where they were first identified as a species -
more than 25 years after they were thought to be extinct in the area.
Elizabeth Truss, the
environment secretary, credited "innovative" new farming methods for
the apparent resurgence of the tiny creatures in Selborne village, Hampshire.
More than 150 harvest
mice nests have now been discovered in and around the village where naturalist
Gilbert White lived when he first identified themicromys minutus as a
species in 1767.
"As an avid reader
of Beatrix Potter in my youth I’m delighted that the iconic Harvest Mouse has
been rediscovered in the very area in which it was first identified."
The tiny creatures -
Europe's smallest rodents - are classed as a Priority Species for Conservation
in the UK and are threatened
by the loss of hedgerows and grassland habitats.
In Selborne, local
farmers have worked together in a "Farmer Cluster" to coordinate land
management across the wider area, including hedge planting and maintaining
grass headlands around fields to create habitats for birds, small mammals and
insects.
Ms Truss said: "As
an avid reader of Beatrix Potter in my youth I’m delighted that the iconic
Harvest Mouse has been rediscovered in the very area in which it was first
identified.
"The farmers of
Selborne should be congratulated for the innovative approach they have taken to
managing their land for the good of the environment and local wildlife.
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