Canford Heath is an area of heathland at Poole in Dorset, UK that is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of the Dorset Heathlands Special Protection Area. It is home to the smooth snake, the sand lizard and the Dartford warbler. Heaths are anthropogenic habitats found primarily in northern and western Europe, where they have been created by thousands of years of human clearance of natural forest vegetation by grazing and burning on mainly infertile acidic soils. ... Poole is a coastal town, port and tourist destination, situated on the shores of the English Channel, in the ceremonial county of Dorset in southern England. ... For other uses, see Dorset (disambiguation). ... A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. ... A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Commission Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409/EEC). ... Binomial name Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758 The Sand Lizard Lacerta agilis is a lizard. ... Binomial name Sylvia undata (Boddaert, 1783) The Dartford Warbler, Sylvia undata, is an Old World warbler which breeds in the warmer parts of south west Europe and northwest Africa. ...

It has also given its name to a nearby housing development that provides affordable housing for local people in one of the most expensive areas to live in the world. Within a couple of miles of the coast, Canford Heath is very close to Sandbanks (allegedly the most expensive real estate in the world), Penn Hill and Poole Quay, all of which are exclusive residential areas. Sandbanks Ferry Sandbanks is a small spit jutting out over the mouth of Poole Harbour near Bournemouth in the south of England. ...

Canford Heath was developed around 1983 and the key of its success has been in providing quiet, private housing for those priced out of Bournemouth, Corfe Mullen or other surrounding areas. Now an established part of Dorset, Canford Heath has grown its own community life with two public houses, a church, two supermarkets, two schools and a range of social activities for young people. In the age of anti-social behaviour Canford Heath is an example of affordable housing which can work. Bournemouth is a large resort town on the south coast of England. ... Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, situated on the north-western urban fringe of the Poole-Bournemouth conurbation. ... Supermarket produce section A supermarket is a store that sells a wide variety of goods including food and alcohol, medicine, clothes, and other household products that are consumed regularly. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ...

On 19 March 2006 a large fire swept across part of the heathland requiring almost 170 firefighters to extinguish.

External links

• BBC News Article on Heathfire
• Canford Heath United Reformed Church