ONE of the UK’s most ambitious rewilding projects is set to benefit the St Austell area.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust is to undertake the project following significant new investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Tor to Shore initiative covers from the Helman Tor nature reserve, near Bodmin, to St Austell Bay, also taking in the course of the Par River.

The wildlife trust says the scheme is one of the UK’s first nature recovery projects to work across land and sea holistically.

For the project’s first year, the trust has been awarded a development grant of £265,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A trust spokesperson said: “If the first year is successful, this will result in a further £3,300,000 of funding over five years – the largest in our history and a transformative investment for nature in Cornwall.

“The project incorporates rewilding work at Helman Tor nature reserve, support for nature-friendly farming in the Par River catchment and work to improve protection for St Austell Bay.

“In 2023, Cornwall Wildlife Trust research confirmed one of the UK’s largest sub-tidal seagrass beds exists in the bay. Moreover, it was found to also be home to extensive maerl beds, a lesser known but equally important habitat.

“Maerl is a hard, calcified seaweed that forms over long periods of time and St Austell Bay’s beds are likely to be thousands of years old. Marine wildlife can be found sheltering within and feeding among the maerl, which, like seagrass, is an important habitat for carbon capture.

“Protecting it is now a priority for Cornwall Wildlife Trust – particularly following its recent classification by Natural England as ‘irreplaceable’, largely due to the extremely long time it takes to develop, growing as little as 0.5mm per year.”

The head of marine work at the trust, Ruth Williams, said: “Locally known as ‘Cornish coral’, maerl beds are spectacular. We’re lucky to have it in St Austell Bay but cannot take it for granted.”