Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust has hailed the success of efforts to restore heathland habitat in the heart of Sherwood Forest.

Over the past three years, the charity, which cares for around 900 hectares of nature reserves, has restored open heathland habitat at its Strawberry Hill Heath nature reserve between Rainworth and Mansfield.

In 2013, around 300 trees were felled to help revert wooded areas back to original heathland. Heather and grassland are now thriving.

Last year, two areas were fenced off to provide safe breeding areas for ground-nesting birds such as nightjar, an increasingly rare species.

The work was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of a wider project that also involved working with children and young people to highlight the importance of the wildlife and history of Sherwood Forest.

Nightjars were known to be present in the area, but none had been officially recorded on the heath.

Now, just over a year after the creation of the nesting areas, a pair has been recorded — raising hopes that the nature reserve will become a regular breeding site.

As well as monitoring the breeding areas of nightjars across Sherwood Forest, the project aims to create links with communities in Africa and help children understand the role that Sherwood Forest plays in the global network of habitats and the importance of the heathlands.

The trust’s Erin McDaid said: “This forms part of our long-term strategy to restore key wildlife habitats.

“We took some flak for cutting down trees in but we wanted to create a safe haven for the nightjar. Sherwood Forest is home to a significant proportion of the UK’s breeding population of nightjars. It is our job to do what we can to help them.”

Much of the work to keep the areas clear for the birds has been carried out by volunteers, who have also created steps and improved paths to make the site more accessible to visitors.