Queen guitarist Brian May creates private nature reserve in England

Brian May, the guitarist for the band Queen, transformed agricultural land into a private nature reserve called May’s Wood in the county of Dorset, England.

He purchased the initial 63 hectares near the town of Bere Regis and later added approximately 64 hectares of surrounding fields to the project. May began the ecological transformation in September 2013 in partnership with Save Me Trust, a non-profit organization he founded to protect wild animals.

The project started with a community event where neighbors and local students helped May plant 600 trees. Since then, the project has included various native species such as oaks, beeches, chestnuts, and wild cherries to restore a habitat that was historically a native forest. The restoration project focuses on creating a biological corridor for local wildlife rather than just planting a dense forest. The team left open sections and wildflower meadows to maintain the natural dynamics of the British ecosystem.

Save Me Trust states that the area now hosts insects, birds, and small mammals that had disappeared during decades of intensive farming. The organization emphasizes that they did not introduce any non-native species, choosing instead to allow existing fauna to reclaim the space.