Wildlife is thriving on a 1,500-acre tract of Oxfordshire countryside despite living cheek by jowl with huge storage warehouses, army trucks, forklift trucks, soldiers and civilians.

Bicester Garrison might not be a hostile environment but along with the ordnance depot it is a busy military base sending out vital stores – clothing, tentage, tyres and almost everything the three armed forces need, except for front-line vehicles and weapons. It has a training function, too, for various units.

Yet since it was built in the early 1940s to be part of the preparation for the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944, the garrison/depot has become a haven for wildlife from birds such as reed warblers and owls to muntjac and roe deer, butterflies and bats.

Quite simply, the security fence means that the area stretching originally over 12 square miles from Arncott to Graven Hill at Ambrosden has been out of bounds to the general public and has enabled a wide-ranging biodiversity of wildlife to be nurtured untouched for decades.

In the past 20 or more years, a conservation officer has been keeping a weather eye on what can be found there among all the comings and goings of the garrison and ordnance depot, which these days is known as the Defence Storage and Distribution Centre at Bicester.

Gary Beckett has been the latest conservation officer for the past two years, having spent about 26 years in the Army with the Pioneer Corps, with much of that time being posted locally at St David’s Barracks at Graven Hill on the outskirts of Ambrosden and Bicester.

As a preliminary to taking up the post, he studied woodland management as part of his re-settlement course from military to civilian life.

“While there is no budget from the Ministry of Defence for conservation work, I do have assistance from a small group of volunteers drawn from civilians at the depot who have an interest in wildlife,” said Gary.

He is a member of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and calls on the organisation for advice. A number of experts from BBOWT have visited the area to find out what exists at the garrison/depot.

“In effect, I act as a co-ordinator for people like BBOWT, the Oxfordshire Bat Group and the Upper Thames Butterfly Conservation Group. They like to send in their people to conduct surveys and report back to me on their findings and suggest what needs to be done,” said Gary. For example, one recent survey of the 13 natural ponds on the vast site identified six of them as breeding grounds for newts, including the great crested newt.

Another instance of co-operation between military and civilian life came when Gary called in the Forestry Commission and also David Rees, the manager of the Oxfordshfire Woodland Project.

He said: “We wanted to know more about Arncott Wood, which is about 13 acres of woodland consisting mainly of oak and ash trees.

“We realised the wood needs some thinning out, or pruning, so that the canopies of trees can be improved, so that daylight can reach the under storey or undergrowth to enable the lower level plants to thrive.

“We also want to open up the old walkways through the wood.”

While this will be a long-term task, Gary believes there is probably scope for similar work to be carried out at Graven Hill Wood at the other end of the depot.

“I remember looking at the wood as we jogged round the circular perimeter road during the commanding officer’s Monday runs,” he recalled.

Among the birdlife to be found are swifts, swallows and house martins plus many other species. “We have barn owls and little owls and I have been able to renew owl nesting boxes that were put up in the past.

“Luckily I have been able to get the boxes made up in the depot workshops – they are the Hilton Hotels of the bird box world,” he said.

As he walks round his vast patch, he notes down the species he comes across and passes on sightings to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology, which together are creating new bird maps of Britain.

“I have spotted common snipe and jack snipe, plus reed warblers, willow warblers and the rare grasshopper warbler,” he said.

One area of his patch has been designated for conservation where there is a wetland. “We have been considering whether to create scrapes or slopes beside at the water’s edge of a pond to attract waders and other water fowl,” said Gary.

Bullfinches and nightingales breed and live among the bushes and vegetation of the site and Gary has also tracked a goshawk that somehow found its way into a warehouse.

“I tracked the goshawk for three days before it flew off, but I suspect there are others in the vicinity,” he said.

With a considerable amount of blackthorn growing on the depot the bushes have become a breeding site for both the brown hairstreak and the black hairstreak butterflies that are found elsewhere in the neighbouring Otmoor and Bernwood Forest region.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the land contains a number of badger setts and there is a fair number of muntjac deer.

“Recently I discovered two families of roe deer had established themselves here and I hope they will multiply, though deer can be a problem damaging trees and saplings.”

Gary believes it is fair comment to suggest that the Ministry of Defence has become a good conservator of wildlife biodiversity, that exists side by side with military operations.