Stork nesting towers to be built at Dorset farm
A project is underway to restore populations of the bird in the south
Last updated 26th Aug 2023
Dorset businesses are being asked to give a leg up to an usual sponsorship deal – by paying for stork nesting towers.
The charity behind the wildlife project on a farm near Blandford believe that if the four proposed nesting towers are put in place the storks will come.
Apart from a small colony in the south east, storks have disappeared from our environment although they were once quite common.
Several have been seen in recent years on migration flights in the Poole area.
The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) has been given planning consent by Dorset Council for a restoration project at the 92-acre Bere Marsh Farm for the stork towers.
A two-storey mill will also be rebuilt and other dilapidated farm buildings will be used as visitor and education centres and a café.
The CRT want to erect four separate towers to encourage white stork to breed – each of the towers to cost £1500 each.
The towers will be built on floodplain fields adjacent to the River Stour, which the experts say is an ideal site for white stork to settle.
The towers themselves consist of a telegraph pole with a galvanised steel basket.
Businesses interested in backing the stork tower project should contact Hayley on h.neal@thecrt.co.uk or call on 01223 651215.