NATIONAL Trust rangers are hosting a conservation grazing open day on Conford Common Village Green on May 14 from 10am until 2pm.

Rangers and wildlife conservation experts will answer questions about a plan to graze a few cattle on the common for part of the year.

Guided tours at 11am and 1pm will explain how the fenced grazing scheme on five per cent of the common will operate. There will be a chance to meet the grazier and cattle.

Livestock grazed on Conford Common for centuries, but since this stopped in the 1950s the site – a rare mix of wetland, heath and wood pasture – has been drying out because of encroaching scrub and trees.

Conford Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area, but scrub has led to a huge decline in plants and creatures that once thrived. By reintroducing grazing the trust hopes species such as the marsh helleborine orchid will return. Wet heathland like Conford Common can also store lots of carbon.