Project launched to help protect heathland from fire

An educational initiative has been launched in schools in Mansfield in a bid to help protect heathlands in Nottinghamshire from fire.

The Heathland Fire Prevention Education Project - which is set to run to March 2028 - aims to reach more than 3,000 young people and their families.

The Sherwood Forest Trust said heathlands were among the "rarest habitats" in the UK, and said fires caused "lasting damage to these fragile landscapes".

The trust said the programme - run in partnership with the Academy Transformation Trust Further Education College - would deliver education, creative activities, and community action focused on fire safety and protecting heathlands.

The project aims to reduce both deliberate and accidental fires on heathland sites by increasing awareness of heathlands, their ecological importance and the risks posed by fire.

According to the trust, the scheme would include secondary school assemblies, primary school sessions and curriculum-linked visits to heathland sites.

It added the project would also include family learning sessions, school holiday activities, community events and volunteering opportunities.

Helen Sullivan, chief executive of the Sherwood Forest Trust, said: "Our heathlands are a precious part of the historic forest, yet now so rare.

"Home to nightjars, common lizards and green tiger beetles, they also lock up carbon in their soils - so when they burn, they not only destroy wildlife habitat but release that carbon back into the atmosphere."

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