WOODLAND and wildlife in the region will benefit from National Lottery grants amounting to about £600,000, it was announced yesterday.

Durham Wildlife Trust will get a grant of £449,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for work on 18 of its nature reserves.

A grant of £101,000 will enable the City of Sunderland Council, in partnership with the Great North Forest, to acquire 16 hectares of land at Copt Hill, near Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham.

The Durham Wildlife Trust aims to restore the quality of its reserves, promote public access and volunteer opportunities and enhance local history knowledge.

A volunteer development officer, a reserves assistant and a part-time administrative officer will be employed under the scheme.

Eleven of the sites are designed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and one is a National Nature Reserve. They are home to species including otters, red squirrels and the Durham Argus butterfly.

Sunderland Borough Council's acquisition of land at Copt Hill will enable public access for the first time to a site that includes the Seven Sisters around the barrow - a scheduled ancient monument - and Rough Dene Woodland, an area of semi-natural woodland.

The authority also intends to discontinue the intensive arable farming taking place on the land and encourage more species-rich grassland.

The scheme will also provide on-site interpretation and locally promoted walks taking in the site.

The new nature reserve will be linked to the Grant North Forest project, an environmental initiative operating in the south of Tyne and Wear and North-East County Durham