 It includes a population of the five-banded tailed digger wasp, "Cerceris quinquefasciata", which nests in bare sand along a path to the north of the site, and on sparsely vegetated slopes to the west.Discovery of the wasp population in 2005 by English Nature meant that Forest Heath District Council had to adapt proposed housing and school development plans in this area of the village.The Heath is maintained by volunteers from a conservation group established in 2007 and awarded a Lottery grant in 2012.