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.

Our main planting partner in 2025 is Wilderlands Farm, an exciting new nature regeneration project. The Wilderlands site includes five medieval meadows, and the aim is to build ponds, restore scrub, reinstate traditional hedgerows, let wildflower meadows return. Its ancient woodland has varied habitats, including tributaries of the River Ouse, small streams and old ponds, with many different tree species, and there are numerous rights of way across the land so that the local community has access to and can enjoy all the benefits of immersion in wild nature.

The land is already a home for nesting ravens, red kites, buzzards, kingfishers, tawny owls and many more species, and we hope to see the return of nightingales, turtle doves, glow worms, and potentially pine martens, red squirrels and even beavers. The long-term aim is to establish a much-needed nature recovery corridor from the High Weald to the Sussex coasts, creating a network of contiguous habitat across a currently fragmented landscape.

At Wilderlands, we have planted trees include silver birch, oak, hazel, field maple, buckthorn, alder and hawthorn, and will contribute towards the restoration of hedgerows. Moving forward, we will continue to support their vision of Sussex becoming one of the wilder areas of England, particularly on community engagement activities and events.

We have hosted four tree planting, tending and nature connection events at Wilderlands Farm, a joint initiative with our partners Locate Productions, which have involved tree-planting, and talks on the farm’s ambitions. The days were well attended by donors, advisors, business supporters and the local community, with over 250 people attending.

For these plantings, we partnered with Sussex Wildlife Trust who helped to teach participants the best way to plant and care for trees so they thrive into the future, and Woodland Trust also donated a proportion of the mixed-native trees planted.

Springham Farm - Sussex

Previously, we also planted trees at Springham Farm, near Hailsham in East Sussex. This is a 229-acre farm run by Springham Grove LLP, and owned by the Biodynamic Land Trust, creating an inspiring, regenerative, biodynamic farm for the mutual benefit of humans and nature that can be replicated elsewhere – boosting biodiversity and helping wildlife thrive. Work here involved expanding the wet woodland habitat by planting a mix of alder, birch and willow trees; and creating woodland pastures using rewilding concepts with a mixture of trees from rowan to yew.

Farm under the Radar - Devon

Forests Without Frontiers' first UK-based project was Farm Under the Radar who are working to transform a 10 hectare area of grazing land into a haven for wildlife on a site in Devon. We supported the planting 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. 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.