AS cruel ironies go, it takes some beating.

The rain fell heavily yesterday on Upton Heath, where conservationists have been working to move any surviving wildlife from the scene of last week’s devastating blaze.

If the downpour had come last Thursday afternoon, there might be 200 more acres of thriving heathland in Dorset than there are today.

It’s hard for some of us to take in the scale of what happened on June 9 – just how much wildlife can exist in an area the size of 130 football pitches, and how tragic is its loss.

It’s also hard to imagine what it’s like for the people of Dorset Wildlife Trust, who manage the heath, knowing that the good work of generations can disappear in an afternoon.

But conservationists have been heartened by the public’s good wishes and offers of help.

That’s one good thing to come out of this calamity.

Another good thing would come out of it if we all learned to value Dorset’s habitats.

Maybe, as one Daily Echo reader commented online, some of us should be a little less keen to mock when road schemes and house building are delayed because there are lizards in the way. And maybe some of us should be less inclined to regard planning rules protecting heathland as a burden.

Natural habitats are all too easily taken for granted. And like anything that’s taken for granted, they can easily disappear.