A fundraising appeal launched by the National Trust to help restore heathland destroyed by a wildfire last month has exceeded its initial £500,000 target in a week.

The charity launched the appeal after the fire at RSPB Minsmere nature reserve spread to its land at Dunwich Heath, Suffolk.

“In just one week, you’ve helped us reach our initial £500,000 target,” the charity told its supporters on social media.

“Your generosity has been extraordinary; it will help us recover this precious landscape and make it more resilient for the future.”

The National Trust added that donations beyond its initial target will help support the charity’s response to wildfires at its other sites, including in the Peak District, Isle of Wight and the Mourne Mountains.

The fire in Dunwich Heath destroyed an area of heathland the equivalent of 22 football pitches in size involving “precious habitats, wildlife, trees and a place where people have made memories over generations” said the charity’s director general Hilary McGrady last month.

The National Trust added that lowland heath “is one of rarest habitats in the country, with an estimated 92% lost in England over the last 120 years”.

It said: “It makes Dunwich Heath, and the neighbouring RSPB Minsmere reserve, an especially important area for specialist wildlife that depend on the shelter and food sources the habitat provides.

“This includes birds such as nightjars, skylarks and the very rare Dartford warbler, as well as adders, lizards and slow-worms, and butterflies including the rare silver-studded blue.”

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