Nature Restoration Fund - Our Projects 2022

The introduction of stoats to Orkney threatened the future of internationally important populations of native wildlife through direct predation and reduction of food supply.

This project will carry out field trials to develop a methodology to finish removing invasive non-native stoats from the Orkney islands. Following the removal of the majority of the population with a network of traps operated by the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. The resultant methodology will be rolled out during the project period to the entire 227 square miles of Orkney that have been recently colonised by the stoat. Completely removing the species from the islands.

Further information - Orkney Native Wildlife Project 

The Peffery Wet Woodland project aims to create 2.3ha of wet woodland on the south side of the Peffery floodplain at Fodderty. The creation of the wet woodland will be achieved by encouraging an artificially straightened watercourse to take a more natural route through what is currently two stands of mature poplar with some young oak. All of the poplars, which are of low value biodiversity, and some oak will be removed. A natural wet woodland of alder and willow carr will be allowed to be established through natural regeneration. This will create an area of high value biodiversity and carbon storage.

Further information - Lockett Agri-Environmental

This project will install a new sluice into the Savoch Burn. This sluice will enable greater control and bigger draw down on the Savoch Reservoir that feeds the Loch of Strathbeg itself. The aim is to reduce the nutrients flowing into the naturally eutrophic loch and provide better habitat for breeding waders. We will also purchase and install a new solar powered water pump so the internationally designated wetlands will not be short of water when the reservoir is at its lowest.

For Information - RSPB Loch of Strathbeg 

This ambitious and transformational project tackles a range of issues being faced by RSPB Baron’s Haugh, caused by the increasing impacts of climate change and the erosion of the bund surrounding the reserve. It will create a sustainable long-term future for the reserve, while also delivering exciting new habitat for wildlife. The project will work with the changing course of the river and re-establish a more natural connection between the Clyde and its floodplain. It will involve breaching the existing bund to deliver a more naturally functioning wetland, while also creating new pools, scrapes and channels to provide more wetland habitat.

For Information - RSPB Baron's Haugh

This ambitious landscape scale project, led by the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board in partnership with a key upland estate, aims to restore middle and lower parts of the Clunie Water along with the Callater & Baddoch burns, all key tributaries of the River Dee.

Natural flood management solutions will include river based engineering works that reconnect watercourses to their floodplain. In-river and riparian groundworks will be implemented to create new terrestrial wetlands and aquatic habitats for fish and invertebrates. Habitat linkages will be enhanced and new habitats created, to improve connectivity at landscape scale.

A range of actions are proposed within a defined reach, including:

1. Placement of large instream wood structures and porous log jams

2. Bankside conifer removal and restructuring of commercial plantation

3. Installation of debris dams

4. Wetland restoration and enhancement

5. Wader scrapes

6. Channel reconnection and restoration

7. Native riparian tree planting

The suite of small-scale actions will enhance instream, riparian and wider floodplain habitats and have a cumulative positive impact for the river catchment and the wildlife that depends upon it. Keystone species supported by the habitat restoration are Atlantic salmon, freshwater pearl mussel, otter and farmland waders such as lapwing and snipe. The catchment will benefit from the natural flood management processes delivered by increasing run-off storage capacity in the glen, through wetland creation and debris dams.

For Information -  Dee District Salmon Fishery Board and River Dee Trust

Part 1 – Skinflats Islands restoration work –

This element of the Inner Forth Resilience project aims to create improve existing islands within the Skinflats managed realignment. Making them more appropriate and attractive for breeding and roosting birds by raising the heights of the islands, to ensure they are available to birds even at high tide, as well as adding marine shingle to the islands to create important shingle habitat.

Part 2 – Inner Forth Tern Rafts –

It is well known that terns will readily take to tern rafts to breed when other habitats are no longer suitable. This element of the project aims to develop small, portable tern rafts which can be deployed at potentially suitable sites within the Inner Forth to test whether they are successful or not before larger, more permanent rafts are installed.

For information - RSPB Inner Forth

Rewilding Lettoch is a long-term nature restoration project which will enhance the wildlife biodiversity of our 17-acre hillside site in Highland Perthshire.

Our Rewilding approach will encourage the natural regeneration of a range of habitats including woodland, wetland, species-rich meadow and the creation of a new pond. Planting of lower storey trees /shrubs and removal of non-native species will provide immediate green corridors for wildlife to traverse the hillside. Alongside nature restoration action on the ground, Rewilding Lettoch will also create opportunities to share the learning and programme impact through our own investment of time/cash in monitoring the project through film and photography. We plan to share our story and learning with a wide audience. Our aim is to involve and work in partnership with a wide range of people including: neighbouring landowners, contractors, volunteers, our Holiday Cottage guests (300-350p.a.), local school pupils and local rewilding network organisations and groups.

For information - Rewilding Lettoch - An application to NatureScot

RSPB Scotland’s Airds Moss reserve extends across 760ha of bog and moorland fringe habitats. The principal objective is to improve the mosaic of bog, grassland, and wet pasture for declining bird species, especially ground nesting waders. This particular project will see the creation of around 30ha of wetland at the edge of the bog, which will complement the peatland habitat by providing adjacent critical breeding areas for the full suite of waders on the reserve, but especially curlews. The project will use cutting-edge wetland design techniques to ensure effective hydrological control, allowing dynamic management of water levels to provide maximum habitat opportunities for bird species and allow effective ongoing vegetation management.

For information - RSPB 

The project will create a large (850,000 litre) capacity pond for final stage treatment of upstream run-off currently entering the Fonah Bog section of the Rescobie and Balgavies Loch Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It will allow all run-off to be diverted away from the area that is presenting drainage and access problems for the Scottish Wildlife Trust visitor centre.

For information - Lockett Agri-Environmental

Harestone Moss aims to restore natural habitats to allow nature to thrive. We wish to remove extremes of farming, drainage of natural wetlands and return farmland back to its natural condition, protecting local species & facilitate carbon retention in our peat bogs.

Wetlands play a critical role in our proPhoto Copyright - Nectar Networkject, as they are vital in many natural cycles and support a wide variety of biodiversity.

For information - Harestone Moss 

11. Nectar Network

The aim of this project is to consolidate and expand an interconnected network of flower-rich habitats along the Ayrshire coast within which pollinating insects can spread and thrive. The project will enhance connectivity at a landscape scale, working with additional landowners to create new wildflower meadows, bring existing meadows into management, plant pollinator-friendly trees and shrubs and install insect nesting structures. 35 more sites will be added to the network resulting in an additional 15.8ha of pollinator habitat and a total area of 46ha in the network as a whole. This would bring the overall total to 81 sustainable Irvine-to-Girvan Nectar Network sites at key locations, providing a robust pollinator habitat network. The project will also progress - in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation Scotland - a targeted small blue butterfly recovery initiative centred on Gailes Marsh Wildlife Reserve.

For information -  https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/our-work/our-projects/irvine-to-girvan-nectar-network/

The Pentland to Portobello greening project aims to improve a number of existing sections of green corridors which follow the line of watercourses including the Lothianburn, Burdiehouse Burn, Niddrie Burn, and Brunstane Burn.

The route links Swanston Village in the Pentlands, through to the Burdiehouse, Ellen’s Glen, Gilmerton, Moredun, Little France, Greendykes, Niddrie, Bingham, Magdalene, Brunstane and Joppa areas of Edinburgh. Many of these areas are in the most 20% deprived as per the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

The greenspace improvements and enhancements will strengthen the route as a green access corridor, and as a means of delivering amenity and biodiversity benefits through a series of small-scale environmental improvements. These include hedge and tree planting, wildflower meadow enhancement and wetland creation.

For information - Nature Restoration Projects – Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust 

Creel fishing poses a significant entanglement and subsequent mortality risk to minke whales, basking sharks and other marine megafauna in Scottish waters. The ground lines used to link creels are made from buoyant rope which floats in loops between creels which can entangle whales and basking sharks. The entanglement risk is much higher than had previously been recognised and Whale and Dolphin Conservation is working closely with creel fishers on the west coast of Scotland within the Sea of the Hebrides MPA to address this risk by changing the equipment used. Over 18 months, a sample of vessels will trial replacing buoyant ground lines with sinking lines which remain close to the seabed. This important switch has the potential to significantly reduce the entanglement risk of marine megafauna and is a simple, low-cost measure from which we would expect to see a significant reduction in entanglements. If these trials are successful, the use of sinking lines has the potential to be rolled out through the Scottish creel fishing fleet.

For information - Whale and Dolphin Conservation

The aim of this project is to enhance habitat connectivity and biodiversity by restoring heavily grazed areas of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Dullatur Marsh Wildlife Reserve to wet woodland, oak/birch woodland and open water habitat. Species likely to benefit from the upland oak and wet woodland habitats to be created include willow warbler, siskin, redstart, pied flycatcher, and reed bunting. The enhancements to wetland habitat will benefit the following species: aquatic invertebrates, common frog, toad, newt, and over-wintering waders.

For information - Scottish Wildlife Trust 

The Montane Scrub Restoration in the Wild Heart of Southern Scotland project will support the restoration of montane scrub on two landholdings owned by Borders Forest Trust (BFT) at Talla & Gameshope and Corehead & the Devil’s Beef Tub. The project aims to plant 9,000 montane scrub plants (3,300 montane scrub trees at Corehead & the Devil’s Beef Tub and 5,800 at Talla & Gameshope) across some 10.57ha of land and undertake a habitat assessment survey at Talla & Gameshope. The survey will identify potential future montane scrub planting areas and inform the development of a further 5 year planting programme. The project will build on montane scrub restoration work previously carried out by BFT which is creating a substantial area of montane scrub at a landscape level across BFT’s landholdings that will connect to lower level mixed native woodland plantings, resulting in a more complete woodland ecosystem.

For information - Borders Forest Trust 

By “Rewilding Kinkell”, we aim to create a large, connected network of rewilded land in the surrounding area, supporting our cliffs and coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - enhancing its connectivity and bringing back its special features - increasing local native wildlife and driving biodiversity gains.

We are an old farm that has diversified into the weddings and events business that is now branching out into conservation. At Kinkell, we are genuinely worried about the impact humanity is having on the natural environment. We are surrounded by intensive farms and golf courses that leave little space for nature to regenerate and connect.

We believe that rewilding offers a solution to help tackle the twin environmental crises of biodiversity loss and climate change while also creating green jobs and opportunities for people to reconnect with nature. We are planting trees, creating wetlands and conservation grazing with Highland Cows to encourage the reestablishment of natural processes. We have big plans for the future … watch this space …

For information - Rewilding at Kinkell

The project will install 80 – 100 Large Woody Structures (LWS) i.e. whole felled trees with root plates, in the upper Spey. The structures will encourage restoration of natural hydro-morphological processes leading to improvement of in-stream habitats, with lasting benefits for fish and the wider ecology of the river. The site is part of the River Spey Special Areas of Conservation/Site of Special Scientific Interest (SAC/SSSI) and the proposal will especially benefit Atlantic salmon, a qualifying species. The project will not only contribute to tackling the current biodiversity crisis, but will also boost climate change resilience by creating cooler refuge areas to help aquatic life cope better with the threat of rising water temperatures, and by providing a natural flood management function.

For information -  Spey Catchment Initiative 

In 2021, with the support of NatureScot’s Biodiversity Challenge Fund, Seawilding undertook the first seagrass restoration project in Scotland. This ground breaking community-led project is a proof of concept of what can be achieved by a motivated local community committed to managing and improving the marine habitat. This year, we plan to harvest and plant a further 125,000 seeds in 2022, and another 125,000 in 2023. Seagrass meadows are centres of biodiversity, full of diverse and productive marine life. Over 50 species of fish have been recorded in one meadow along with hundreds of species of invertebrates such as molluscs, shrimp and marine worms. By providing a 3-dimensional structure in an otherwise barren marine landscape, seagrass provides a vital marine habitat. Seagrass creates a complex habitat pumping oxygen into marine sediments making them ideal for abundant animal life to thrive. In addition, seagrass plants can be highly productive, leading to the trapping and strain of carbon in their sediments that can stay there for a millennia.

For information: Seawilding - Seagrass Restoration 

To repair and re-establish a historically diverse range of habitats to halt the decline, and return the area to a vibrant, essential, ecologically rich and stable base for the reliant areas and protected species on a key site on Arran.

For information - [email protected]

The East Neuk area around Crail has no wetlands beyond the size of a pond. We are aiming to create a rewilded area of wetland at South Kilminning. South Kilminning is a 14.3ha area of tarmac, amenity grassland, regenerating woodland and coastal scrub that has recently passed into community ownership through a Community Land Asset Transfer. Much of the site was formerly part of Crail airfield and has been extensively covered with tarmac. We plan to cover the tarmac, deculvert a burn that runs under much of the site and create a wetland in an area where almost all burns and wetlands have been removed due to intensive farming. We plan to restore coastal woodland and meadow, again in an area where almost all has been removed due to intensive farming. The initiative is part of the Crail Community Partnership’s wider mission, generated from a community charrette, to restore and connect nature rich sites around Crail.

For information - About Crail Blog

The main aim of this project is to build on the work RSPB has been undertaking in the North Isles of Orkney, working with landowners to enhance habitat for breeding waders through funded projects and agri-environment schemes. Nature Restoration Fund funding will be used to implement habitat management works on five additional sites across four different islands. These sites were selected based on connectivity with existing wader populations and the potential of the habitat to support breeding waders with appropriate management. The five sites are all currently unmanaged and the key aim is to re-introduce light, seasonal grazing to create open feeding areas for waders and allow their flightless chicks to move through the vegetation. Grazing will be facilitated by installing livestock fencing. A large part of the works is also wetland creation and management, to further improve feeding opportunities for waders. The two main target species for this project are curlew and lapwing, both of which have declined by over 50% in Orkney since 2007 and consequently their populations are now fragmented. The site management plans aim to create the potential for a high population density of both lapwing and curlew which, cumulatively with existing sites, should help establish a larger more resilient breeding population of both species at a landscape scale.

Further information to be provided.

Scottish Solway INNS Control and Knowledge Programme is led by the Galloway Fisheries Trust and aims to deliver a co-ordinated and prioritised Invasive Non-native Species (INNS) control programme across much of Dumfries & Galloway. It will cover 9 main river catchments to protect designated and sensitive sites. The focus will be on priority INNS species of Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and American skunk cabbage. The project will also implement key actions in the Biosecurity Plan for the Kirkcudbright Dee to prevent the spread of other aquatic INNS species and of signal crayfish. Tracy Starks the project officer for this project will be working closely with volunteers, landowners and other stakeholders to deliver this work programme effectively.

For information: Galloway Fisheries Trust 

Across 130sqkm of the Cairngorms Connect (CC) forests, the partners have identified a series of actions to enhance these areas for biodiversity. Some are at large scale, whilst others need to be initiated at a small scale to create a catalyst for larger scale expansion and enhancement. Since 2019, the CC partners have restructured 1,089ha of Scots pine plantation to benefit pinewood biodiversity, from capercaillie to green shield-moss. In this proposal, we will restructure 100ha of additional Scots pine plantation at Abernethy. We are also undertaking localised micro-treatments to create focal points for recovery of rare invertebrates such as pine hoverfly, at Abernethy, and dark bordered beauty moth at Insh Marshes RSPB reserve, for both of which the CC area offers a rare opportunity for population recovery at a landscape scale. This requires small-scale actions such as creation of troughs/rot holes, management of birch regeneration and recovery of aspen stands.

For information: Cairngorms Connect - Restoration Projects  

This project will build upon stabilisation work that Ayrshire Rivers Trust completed in 2016/17 that has dramatically reduced land loss and sediment inputs to the middle reaches of the Water of Girvan. To enhance and restore biodiversity in the Water of Girvan catchment, the project will create riparian corridor buffer zones using a variety of green ecological nature-based methods in conjunction with fencing to manage livestock overgrazing.

For information: Ayrshire Rivers Trust 

The Beyond the Endrick project is an ambitious project that will deliver much needed restoration to the middle Endrick Water and the wider middle Endrick catchment. In particular, we aim to re-establish wildlife corridors and improve riparian riverbanks through hedgerow and riparian tree planting and a combination of green engineering methods such as brash banking, willow spiling and bank re-profiling. By working collaboratively with landowners across the project area, the Trust will deliver long term benefits that will deliver a better and more diverse habitat for wildlife and contribute to rebalancing natural river processes as well as mitigating against the impacts of global warming.

For information: Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust 

Dougarie Estate has started an ambitious project to create a number of wildlife corridors across the Estate by utilising hedgerows to develop a maze of networks which span a number of different habitats. In this first phase, we are planting circa 9kms of hedgerows which will aid biodiversity as well as creating barriers to protect livestock through the winter months. Our longer term vision is to continue to enhance the estate with further hedgerow planting which will sit alongside our drystone walls giving us a unique and diverse spectrum of agricultural land. This in line with our aspirations to continue to plant native species deciduous woodlands will bring together a myriad of ecosystems which will provide a diverse habitat for many of the birds and animals that are synonymous with the west coast of Scotland.

For information: Dougarie Estate 

The project will facilitate the regeneration of habitats and species on a landscape scale across the western range of the Knoydart Peninsula. It will bring about enriched biodiversity from seashore to mountain tops. The project will link up and repair existing deer fences. This will enable deer in the Black Hills to be managed separately from the wider peninsula. The deer density within the 3000-hectare project area will be reduced to a very low level which will then allow successful woodland establishment without the need for any more individual fences, as well as restoration of peatlands.

For information: Knoydart Foundation 

This Nature Restoration Fund project aims to combat climate change impacts as well as address habitat loss, building on work already completed at the Blaircreich Farm site of the River Larig. Between 2019 and 2021 at Blaircreich Farm and further upstream in the Inverlochlarig Glen, a riparian woodland corridor of approximately 8km has been planted with trees and lined with large woody debris to provide instream cover for fish and other species; increase macroinvertebrate production through increased detritus in the river; stabilise banks and cool water temperatures. While tree planting and large woody debris on sites at Blaircreich will go a long way to begin the transformation of the River Larig into a much healthier and species diverse river, there is much more opportunity at Blaircreich for further connectivity.

This phase of restoration aims to improve floodplain efficiency on currently disused farmland by increasing wetland habitat on areas which should be retaining water for longer before it filters into the river. Increasing storage of the floodplain at Blaircreich Farm will help reduce impacts on river habitat of sedimentation and run off from the hillsides surrounding the area, as well as provide increased habitat for wading birds, amphibians and a host of insects including dragonflies, damselflies and water beetles.

The project will also use live willow to provide green bank structure along the Larig at Blaircreich to further stabilise banks as well as provide increased habitat for riparian fish and insect species. Overall, people and animals in this area will benefit from this project by hitting several climate change and ecosystem service targets.

For information: Forth Rivers Trust - Protecting Rivers Around the Forth for the Future 

The project is to restore the first of four sites on the Quharity Burn, Balintore Estate, Angus, identified in a study in 2021 as stretches of the burn that would benefit from restorative and re-meandering works. These measures will encourage the evolution of a natural, sinuous channel form and associated wetland environment over time.

For information: Kinnordy Estate 

In common with the rest of the Cairngorms Connect (CC) partnership area, RSPB Abernethy has a major objective to expand native woodland to its natural limit, and to do so largely without the use of deer fences, and primarily by natural regeneration. However in some locations, there is a need to establish seed sources of absent/under-represented species. The Nature Restoration Fund has supported the development and operation of the Cairngorms Connect tree nursery, at Forest Lodge, Abernethy, to produce local provenance trees, for planting on RSPB’s Abernethy nature reserve. By March 2023, the nursery will grow 6,000 trees ready for planting.

For information: Caringorms Connect - Restoration Projects  

The River Tromie at RSPB’s Insh Marshes reserve is one of a number of river restoration projects in the Cairngorms Connect area, for which the partners are working collectively to return more natural river and floodplain function. This project initiates the re-naturalisation of the lower reaches of the River Tromie. This is done using recognised techniques - the removal of bank reinforcement and addition of woody material.

For information: Cairngorms Connect - Insh Marshes  

We are a group of neighbouring farmers in the West Loch Ness area, coming together to help local wildlife thrive through coordinated management at a landscape scale. This Nature Restoration Fund project focuses specifically on one thing. The creation of wetland habitat. We are doing this in two ways. Firstly, by restoring a previously drained marshland and secondly by creating a network of scrapes and ponds throughout the whole cluster area. This work will focus on a habitat in decline in our area. Future monitoring work will measure the response of the local flora and fauna to our habitat creation project.

For information: West Loch Ness Farm Cluster 

Feochaig Woods was the easterly-most section of the much larger Dalbuie Forestry Scotland estate, which was extensively planted with exotic conifer species, namely hybrid larch, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and western hemlock. In 2017 Feochaig Woods was sold as part of the annual disposal. It was deemed not to be commercially viable due to the hydrology, salt exposure and soil conditions. The ecological dimension to the project is focused around wet woodland restoration and temperate rainforest habitat creation. The two-year Nature Restoration Fund-funded project consists of extensive excavator work to open up access to the habit creation zones, followed by a campaign on ditch plugging in order to restore the original wetland hydrology of the site, and mound creation for a subsequent native tree planting campaign.

For information: [email protected]

The objective of our hedgerow project is habitat and species restoration most especially for declining Farmland Species. These are not hedgerows in the normal sense of the word that will require trimming but ‘thickets’ that will grow on into wide lines of native continuous trees and shrubs which are flowering and berry-bearing as a food . This year, 2023, we have created 8km of the 11km project of hedgerow thickets, predominantly in new locations creating new boundaries where hedgerows or boundaries have never been before. We have made smaller field enclosures of 10 acres from 20 acre fields. Having been a farm of 26 fields we are now a farm of over 45 fields. The hugely improved habitat connectivity on the farm is already visibly encouraging pollinator, bird and small mammal habitat, judging by the activity we have been observing through the summer. Two of our farming neighbours are included in the project to create a bigger habitat improvement impact.

For information: Peelham Farm 

The aim of this project was the enhancement of 4ha of sedge- and canary reedgrass-dominated fen through the creation of new pools and channels. Over 4100m2 of shallow margins were created, with more than 600m of varied edge habitat and 5 islands, while the main new watercourse containing a 1m deep central channel increasing connectivity for fish and other wildlife connected the Aird Meadow loch to the new scrapes created in 2021. The works were successfully delivered over winter 2022/23 through the use of standard and also amphibious excavators, with wildlife ranging from whooper swans to black-headed gulls, shoveler ducks, lapwing and common sandpiper all using the new habitat.

For information: RSPB

The project will remove sheep and deer from approximately 300ha of the West Beinn Ghlas area of Ben Lawers Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Targeted cattle grazing will be introduced with the aim of improving the condition of open ground habitats degraded by long-term intensive sheep grazing and promoting natural regeneration of woodland and scrub from adjacent exclosures. The project aims to Nofence GPS collars on the cattle to integrate active expansion of woodland and scrub and restoration of eroded peat, without additional compartmentalisation by real fences.

For information: NTS - Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve 

To remove Invasive Non Native Species (INNS), improve habitat and migration pathways for endangered species, allowing for easier monitoring of fish migration patterns, minimise future maintenance costs and improve the overall aesthetic aspect of the area for the benefit of the whole community.

Further information to be provided.

This project will install a filtration reed bed within Lochend Park’s large and biodiverse pond to filter surface-water overflow from local residential developments.

Further information to be provided

This project aims to increase biodiversity locally by creating new habitat. Wildlife corridors will be created by the planting of native hedgerows and trees which will connect existing woodland areas.

Further information to be provided.

Natural Devon – Pool of Muckhart NFM (Natural Flood Management) project aims to deliver nature-based solutions to slow the flow of water along an unnamed burn near the village of Muckhart. Residents have come together to form the local flood group to try and look at ways of reducing flood risk to properties in the village. The project has introduced overflow channels, scrapes and leaky dams to try and help slow the flow during flood events whilst boosting habitats for wildlife via the creation of open water habitats, the sowing of wildflower seeds and the installation of living willow leaky dams. The local residents have been involved in developing and delivering this project, helping shape their landscape for nature and their community.

For information: Forth rivers Trust - Natural Devon - Pool of Muckhart NFM Project 

A new wetland reserve has been created in fields on the edge of the village of Dalrymple, in East Ayrshire transforming the former agricultural field, into a mosaic of different habitats including woodland, meadow and ponds that will support a rich mix of wildlife. The site which is leased by the community (DSHP), was previously improved grassland that had been extensively grazed by horses and that offered little in terms of habitat value. Around 50% of the site was planted with pockets of woodland, made up of a mix of native trees and scrub including common alder and willow. Open ground and a small glade have been designed in, to ensure a diverse ground flora establishes. As deer are present in the surrounding area, protection of the young trees will be though deer fencing, which will also help to create a boundary for the reserve. Other areas will be planted with meadow flowers and grasses and the creation of a series of ponds will also add interest and help to create a mix of habitats that will support a diverse range of birds, insects and animals. By improving existing hedgerows and by planting 100m of new hedgerow, we hope to create important habitat corridors that will enable wildlife to travel more easily through the surrounding landscape.

For information:

Green Action Trust  

Dash Community