CATTLE could be permitted to graze on Petersfield Heath to help enhance, develop and improve the rare heathland of the beauty spot.
The 69 acres of heathland and its 22-acre pond is overseen by Petersfield Town Council. And to help restore and preserve its rare habitat, the council is looking at allowing cattle to graze on it.
If the proposal is adopted, it is likely experts from the South Downs National Park Authority Heathlands Reunited team will become involved in the project.
Heathlands Reunited was launched in 2016 by 11 organisations, led by the national park, to recreate and restore the existing one per cent of heathland left in the national park.
A project spokesman said: “Grazing is a sustainable way to care for precious and rare habitats that are home to the rare plants and animals that love our heaths – like nightjars and sand lizards.”
The Heathlands Reunited project is committed to supporting partners’ grazing projects by helping to fund fencing and the purchase of traditional breeds of cattle such as the belted Galloway or British whites.