restore nature
Wilderlands Farm, Sussex
Wilderlands is an exciting new nature regeneration project which has 20 acres of medieval meadows and manages 213 acres of adjacent ancient forest and 44 acres of wild meadows. The aim is to create a haven for biodiversity in all its forms. The planting of hedgerow was one of the first steps on this mission; the grand plan even involves bringing beavers back.
“It’s a vision I’ve had for a while that’s coming true. We’re creating a place where nature thrives, working in partnerships to bring people here to connect with the land.”
We will be working with the Wilderlands team as part of our Enchanting Forest project. To date we have planted 1,500 trees at Wilderlands Farm. These include silver birch, oak, hazel, feild maple, buckthorn, alder and hawthorn, and will contribute towards the restoration of hedgerows. Moving forward, we will continue to partner with them to support their vision of Sussex becoming one of the wilder areas of England, particularly on community engagement actvities and events.
We have hosted two events at Wilderlands Farm, a joint initiative with our partners Locate Productions, which have involved tree-planting, and talks on the farm’s ambitions, rewilding and FWF’s latest project, Enchanting Forest. The days were well attended by donors, advisors, business supporters and the local community.
Springham Farm - Sussex
Springham Farm, near Hailsham in East Sussex, is a 229-acre farm run by Springham Grove LLP, and owned by the Biodynamic Land Trust. An exciting project is underway to create an inspiring, regenerative, biodynamic farm for the mutual benefit of humans and nature that can be replicated elsewhere – boosting biodiversity and helping wildlife thrive.
We are supporting this project in partnership with the Woodland Trust to plant, maintain and monitor native trees. There are three strands to our work here: expanding the wet woodland habitat by planting a mix of alder, birch and willow trees; creating woodland pastures using rewilding concepts with a mixture of trees from rowan to yew; and an educational element, bringing children into nature to plant trees working with the Children’s Forest.
“Springham is springing to life again. People begin to understand what is needed to make a healthy wild environment and to farm the land for food in a way that is in keeping with nature. By nuturing the relationship with nature, people strengthen their relationships with themselves and with each other. This is the Springham place. This is the Springham Magic. Come.” Christine Meadows, project manager Springham Grove.
Image: Forests Without Frontiers and Springham Farm team - in 2022
Image: Emma and Nico planting a yew tree in February 2022
Image: Springham Farm
Farm under the Radar - Devon
Forests Without Frontiers' first UK-based project is working to transform a 10 hectare area of grazing land into a haven for wildlife on a site in Devon, supporting our partner Farm Under the Radar to plant thousands of native trees including oak, blackthorn, crabapple, dog rose, field maple, goat willow, hazel, rowan, silver birch, sweet chestnut, beech and hawthorn. In 2021 we helped plant 5,000 trees and another 1,000 in spring 2022.
The land, which includes an old radar station, is within the North Devon UNESCO biosphere World Heritage site and Farm Under the Radar's vision is to create biodiversity havens and wildlife corridors whilst increasing agricultural productivity using organic, permaculture and agroforestry techniques. Their approach will reduce fuel and water inputs and they also aim to increase the variety of species in hedgerows surrounding the site, as well as forming ponds in the lower marshy area where animals, birds, insects and wildflowers can also thrive.
Our contract with Farm Under the Radar will ensure that the trees we plant with them are protected by law. The project aims to recruit local volunteers to help plant and care for the trees, and the land will be made available for community initiatives, for example school visits where pupils can learn about traditional forestry and hedge-laying methods, as well as other projects such as providing courses in wellness and nutrition.
”Planting trees is something we do for future generations. The intention of this project is that the function of the space becomes as permanent as the oak trees we are about to plant.”
- Liam Hayhow – Farm Under the Radar
Image: Site Plan for Farm Under the Radar
Image: The site with first ponds forming
Image: Liam and Nico planting the first tree