About the reserve

Prees Heath East is an extension of the nationally important Prees Heath Common, which is owned and managed by Butterfly Conservation for the Silver-studded blue butterfly and was considered the last site in the West Midlands to find them. The extension has been purchased to act as a satellite site for the butterfly, supplying additional suitable habitat for them to thrive in. 

Before the purchase, the site was used as an off-road biking trail , which caused erosion and degraded the condition of the site for butterflies. The plan now is to reduce the dominance of the bracken cover and to try to establish heather cut from Prees Heath which will further benefit the Silver-studded blues.