In a 62% expansion of the site, a moorland of “exceptional ecological importance” has been added to a mountain nation reserve.
With funds from a corporate grant, the Manx Wildlife Trust acquired the additional 43 acres (17.4 hectares) that lie next to the area that was first acquired in 1995.
The Dalby Mountain Nature Reserve, which currently spans 112 acres (27.9 hectares), is the second largest of its sort on the Isle of Man as a result of the enlargement.
According to the trust, the blanket bog and moorland area was of “international significance for nature conservation” and was crucial for hen harriers.
“Exceptional ecological importance and landscape character, forming an excellent example of blanket bog,” according to MWT, is how the new property was described.
