The National Trust has achieved its aim of creating or restoring 25,000 hectares (61,776 acres) of priority habitat (habitats of principal importance for wildlife and supporting ecosystems) on its land by 2025, a target set in line with the charity’s conservation goals announced in 2015.
This focussed conservation work has included creating or restoring habitats such as peatlands, meadows, wetlands, woodlands and saltmarsh, complementing the work on the conservation charity’s nationally important protected sites that already account for 40 per cent of the Trust’s 250,000 hectare (1,000 square mile) landholding.
Looking after these habitats and ensuring their health is of vital importance for helping tackle the nature and climate crises, including halting the decline of species by making more space for nature as well as adapting landscapes to deal with worsening climate impacts.
Ben McCarthy, Head of Nature and Restoration Ecology at the National Trust said, “Our focus on restoring our most important habitats to help our precious wildlife is not only contributing towards national conservation targets but is also a critical response to the challenge of climate change.
“Our approach uses nature-based solutions to both the nature and climate emergencies with a focus on restoring carbon rich habitats such as peatlands and improving or creating new woodlands as well as adaptive approaches to managing the landscapes we work in, including restoring rivers.
“Much of the work carried out by our countryside and ranger teams on the ground has focused on expanding our existing habitats to buffer them from external pressures as well as creating better and bigger areas of habitat. Combined with our work to create new homes for nature, this approach makes our landscapes more connected for wildlife, allowing species to move more easily across the landscape.
“The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and we are doing all we can to help reverse this decline. The effort to create and restore over 25,000 hectares is fantastic to see and is testament to the hard work of our teams on the ground, tenants and partners.
“Some of the work we’ve done together with our tenant farmers to make more space for nature includes restoring big, bushy hedgerows, creating wildflower margins or adopting extensive grazing regimes to help kick-start natural processes to help wildlife we’ve also focused on the recovery of some of the UK’s most important wildlife.
“The UK is internationally important for its ancient trees and parklands that are enjoyed by so many at sites such as Fountains Abbey in north Yorkshire, Croft Castle in Herefordshire and Lanhydrock in Cornwall, and through this work we were able to introduce innovative management to sustain these ancient habitats for rarities such as Oak polypore fungus (Piptoporus quercinus) and birds like the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.”
Analysis of the data collated as part of the project reveals that the main habitats restored or created over the past nine years include:
- 9,000ha (22,239 acres) of blanket bog where the Trust has re-wetted peatlands through methods such as planting sphagnum moss and gully blocking to help lock away carbon
- 5,000ha (12,355 acres) of wood pasture and parkland with a focus on managing these ancient habitats to sustain their ecological continuity
- 3,500ha (8,649 acres) of meadow restoration to reintroduce wildflowers to create a colourful tapestry across our landscapes to particularly benefit pollinators
- 2,500ha (6,178 acres) of lowland woodland to support some of the UK’s most threatened mammals such as dormice and Barbastelle bats
- 1,500ha (3,707 acres) of upland heaths, restoring a rich mosaic of heath, scrub and grasslands by kick-starting natural processes with the creation of bare, open ground and improving grazing pressure by changing the mix of animals on site
McCarthy said, “In many ways our work has just begun. Due to the nature of some of these projects we won’t see the full benefits for some decades or even centuries particularly in the case of peatland restoration and tree planting; but what is key is that solid foundations are in place which we can build on to help reverse the decline in our wildlife.
“We will continue to sustainably manage these new habitats, monitoring their recovery trajectories so they can reach their full potential.”
Priority Habitats
Total delivery hectares – 2015-2024 – and percentage of delivery hectares (in relation to top 10 priority habitats, over 25,000 hectares)
Blanket bog
>9000ha – Approx. 36%
Wood-pasture and parkland
>5000ha – Approx. 20%
Lowland meadows
>3500ha – Approx. 14%
Lowland mixed deciduous woodland
>2500ha – Approx 10%
Upland Heathland
>1500ha – Approx 6%
Lowland calcareous grassland
>1000ha – Approx 4%
Other woodland; broadleaved
<1000ha – Approx 3%
Lowland Heathland
>500ha – Approx 3%
Lowland dry acid grassland
<500ha – Approx 2%
Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh
<500ha – Approx 2%
Case studies across the regions/countries
South West – Coastal meadows project
In Cornwall the National Trust is working to create 250 hectares (618 acres) of species rich grassland over three years across hundreds of sites in Cornwall to benefit biodiversity, people and fight climate change.
97 per cent of species-rich grassland has been lost in the UK since the 1930s, with the remaining 3 per cent mostly fragmented across the country, leaving little room for wildlife to spread. With UK wildflower grasslands able to support over 700 species of wild plants such as knapweed, betony and orchids and 1,400 species of insects including bees, moths and grasshoppers, returning grasslands to the Cornish countryside will provide huge benefits for nature.
Since starting in 2023 the Cornwall Coastal Meadows project has seen 59.6 hectares (147.3 acres) of new grasslands sown by Trust ranger teams, which are directly contributing to the conservation charities target of creating or restoring 25,000 hectares of priority habitat by 2025 on its land.
Most of the locations are coastal and include Pentire, Bottallack, Gunwalloe, Roseland and Lanhydrock, further inland where the first 4.5 hectare (11.12 acres) meadow of the project was sown. National Trust staff and volunteers were joined by the Cornish fiddle community group Bagas Crowd who played folk music as the seed was scattered and then led everyone on a traditional ‘serpentine’ dance to tread the seed in, helping it bed into the soil.
Seeds for meadows are collected from flower rich ‘donor’ meadows across Cornwall using a brush harvester machine, or via ‘green hay’. By the end of the project, it is estimated that around 5 tonnes of seed will be harvested, dried, stored and sown.
The flourishing meadows will provide a lifeline for native species that depend on grasslands for food and shelter – such as solitary bees, skylarks and swifts. Importantly the spaces also offer places where people can access and connect with nature.
The Cornish coastal meadows project is a collaborative effort, working in partnership with Cornwall Council, Cornwall and Devon Wildlife Trusts, Buglife, Natural England, Meadow Match and the Eden Project. The project has been made possible by a generous supporter legacy, a generous grant from Delia’s fund and donations to the National Trust.
The project is due to be completed in 2025, resulting in a patchwork of wildflower filled fields connecting the Cornish coastline.
Fern Carroll-Smith, Project Officer for the National Trust, said, “With so little of this habitat left in the country, Cornwall can play a critical role in providing a lifeline for some of our most cherished native species from the Burnet moth to the Barbastelle bat.
“The grasslands will also help people reconnect with nature, providing a peaceful environment each summer as they fill with colourful flowers and the buzzing of bees and insects.
“We’re committed to reversing this declining trend of species-rich grasslands and their associated species across the UK, and this project is making an important contribution to returning them to our countryside.”
South West – Stonehenge – grassland recovery
The Stonehenge Projects team is nearing the completion of a long-running and ambitious project to make more space for nature, protect the archaeology of the Stonehenge Landscape, and to improve opportunities for people to explore this special place.
The UK has lost over 80 per cent of its chalk grassland since the 1940s.
Since 2022 over 255 hectares of arable land will have been reverted to species rich chalk grassland, bringing the total that has been reverted to grassland in the past couple of decades to 769 hectares. (NT total ownership in the Stonehenge Landscape is 840ha. Of this, the remaining 44ha of the total ownership consists of woodland, buildings and tracks.)
When the work is complete, it will be the first time in almost a century of National Trust ownership, that all fields in the Stonehenge Landscape will be under pasture. Much of the seed used for the reversion was harvested from Salisbury Plain. Wildflowers synonymous with chalkland biodiversity, including devil’s-bit scabious, cowslip and horseshoe vetch will help support endangered butterflies such as the marsh fritillary, Duke of Burgundy and Adonis blue.
This land will never again be ploughed, protecting the thousands of archaeological sites that sit within the landscape.
Thanks to this work, nine Scheduled Monuments which were previously on Historic England’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register have been removed, and more will follow when the next register is published.
The National Trust team in the Stonehenge Landscape, is also working with organisations in the Wiltshire Chalk Partnership to change the fortunes of the rare species that rely on these unique and precious chalk habitats across Wiltshire by creating and improving nature corridors through reseeding and wildflower plug planting.
Project Manager, Abby George, said, “This is a long-held ambition and it has taken years of work to create this important habitat on such a big scale. It feels like we’re coming to the end but in many ways it’s just the beginning as the fruits of this work will begin to provide significant additional habitat resilience and connectivity for the species that rely on these grasslands.
“Today as we walk across the Stonehenge Landscape, it’s amazing to think that only recently most of these were arable fields. Now this place begins its journey towards a place where people will be able to experience a landscape much closer to the one Neolithic and Bronze Age communities would have recognised thousands of years ago.”
East of England project – woodland restoration
The Ickworth Estate in Suffolk is heavily wooded, with ancient and younger woodland forming a belt around the large parkland.
As part of the ongoing woodland management on the estate National Trust rangers have restored 105 hectares (259.5 acres) of lowland mixed deciduous woodland across the wider estate.
In parts non-native conifer plantations, which would have been planted post war for timber, are being thinned out and replaced with native broadleaved species such as oak, beech and hazel. Opening up of the dense conifer canopy is also allowing for natural regeneration of broadleaved trees, further enhancing the woodland for wildlife and benefit species including wildflowers, insects and birds.
Any felled conifers are made into wood chips to fuel the wood chip biomass boiler that heats the west wing of the mansion house.
In other sections of the estate ash dieback means infected ash trees have been removed and new more diverse and resilient trees comprising of a mix of native broadleaves are being replanted as woodland.
Dee Gathorne-Hardy, Lead Ranger at Ickworth for the National Trust said, “Since 2015 we’ve mainly concentrated on removing Norway Spruce and Douglas fir. Lowland woodlands are really important for wildlife because of the rich diverse habitat and species they can support.
“It will take decades to really start seeing the impact of the new trees which have been planted or have regenerated, but we have already seen an improvement in woodland structure which has supported medium to rare insect and bird species including spotted fly catcher and purple emperors. These species will benefit the wider area by improving the ecological heath and resilience of the woods.
“There is something special and really satisfying about working on a project that you know will have impacts way into the future.”
London & South East – Dunsbury Farm, Isle of Wight
The 165-hectare Dunsbury Farm, which forms the backdrop to Compton Bay, is a crucial part of our coastal nature conservation management on the Isle of Wight. Since 2015 e Trust has been changing it from an intensively sheep grazed and arable farm to a wildlife-rich landscape farmed in a more sustainable way. It is gradually reverting to coastal grassland, with scattered scrub and woodland, with plans to restore areas of wetland too.
Work to date – Crucial first steps were to stabilise the sandy soils by allowing grassland to naturally colonise the arable fields, dramatically reducing soil loss and slowing down rainwater runoff. This also provided food and habitats for insects, birds and mammals.
Plants have established themselves from seeds already in the soil and blown in from coastal grassland. The deep roots of bristly ox-tongue, teasel and beaked hawksbeard are restoring the soil structure, which had been severely compacted from arable machinery. The team has started to see a natural colonisation of typical coastal grassland plants – cliff-top flowers such as thrift, wild carrot, buckshorn plantain, common catsear and lesser hawkbit.
Where sheep once grazed the sandstone ridge so tightly that few plants could flower and self-seed, a herd of cattle now roam, distributing wildflower seed in their coats and their dung. Dry acid grassland species such as knotted hedge parsley and clustered clover flourish, and in more calcareous areas bee and pyramidal orchids have appeared.
Robin Lang, Isle of Wight Countryside Manager for the National Trust said, “The increase in nectar in the landscape has helped to support a rise in a whole range of insects, from mining bees, moths and beetles to wasps and butterflies such as marbled white, common blue, meadow brown and small copper.
“We’ve recorded significant increases in breeding birds including skylarks and whitethroats and an upturn in winter-feeding flocks of linnet and goldfinch because of the spread of habitat, insects and seeds. Kestrels and barn owls are able to raise more young because of the abundant small mammals.
“Butterflies such as Glanville fritillary can now be seen moving through the whole landscape between their coastal and downland colonies, which will make these breeding areas more resilient. It’s amazing to see how nature can respond to less intensive farming methods and it’s a joy to hear more skylark song fill the air. Dunsbury’s network of paths means everyone can enjoy seeing nature returning to this actively changing landscape.”
Midlands – Kinver Edge & Dudmaston – lowland heathland habitats
Across Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire the National Trust is restoring and reconnecting lowland heathland habitats. Once a widespread and commonplace habitat there are only approximately 70,000 hectares in England. (And the UK has 20 per cent of the European total).
Wide, open landscapes, heathlands are dominated by scattered trees and low-growing shrubs, such as gorse, heather and grasses. More than eighty percent of the rare and special habitat has been lost in the last 200 years, through various pressures including agricultural change and conifer planting.
Centred around Dudmaston and Kinver Edge, the Sandscapes nature recovery project aims to return the culturally rich habitat to the Midlands along with the wildlife that relies on this type of habitat. In particular restoring the heathland will be significant for animals that are increasingly rare in the UK.
On the Dudmaston Estate in Shropshire 79ha of sandy soils on Mose Farm are being restored back to a thriving heathland habitat. Working alongside the tenant farmer a total of two hundred and forty-two acres of farmland are planned to be restored over the next ten years.
Over 8,000 heather plugs have been planted, and over the last 12 months several tonnes of heather seed and brash were harvested and scattered across the site, and this year ten highland cattle have been introduced to graze the area. An ideal habitat for an abundance of species, the newly restoring habitat will benefit many insects, reptiles and ground nesting birds that are endangered or under threat of extinction. These include nightjar, woodlark, tree pipit, solitary bees, green tiger beetle, green hairstreak butterfly and emperor moth.
At Kinver Edge previously restored heathland gives an indication of how further works could see significant gains for wildlife that are increasingly rare in the UK. Sightings of Black Oil Beetle at Kinver Edge have been on the up thanks to successful habitat management. The beetles, which love bare earth synonymous with heathlands, are colonising more and more in areas on the Edge. Spreading throughout the landscape over 150 individuals were recorded in spring 2023 and again earlier this year.
A further 19ha of heathland is planned to be restored through the Sandscapes project further benefitting beetles, adders, nightjar and butterflies such as the small heath and green hairstreak butterfly.
James Lawrence, National Trust Project Manager for the Sandscapes project said, “Midland lowland heath was once extensive in our landscape as our sandy soils were too poor to farm before industrialisation.
“We have lost the majority of this habitat and now only a few sites hang on alongside the specialist species that depend upon them. These remaining sites provide an idea of the way of life and experiences that this lost cultural landscape once provided.
“Through the Sandscapes project we are working with our tenant farmers and partners outside of our property boundaries to restore a slice of this lost world back to our landscape so people can once again experience the habitats and nature that once thrived in south Shropshire, South Staffordshire and North Worcestershire.”
Midlands – Croft Castle, Herefordshire – wood pasture restoration
At Croft Castle in Herefordshire, the National Trust has been working with Forestry England and Natural England since 2015 to reinstate historic wood pasture and restore wildlife.
Wood pasture is a mixture of open grown trees of various ages and clusters of trees. Rather than just grassland, the pasture contains patches of bracken and brambles, and it is grazed typically by cows.
The 607 hectare (1,500 acre) landscape at Croft is designated as Grade II for its historic and national significance and documented evidence shows the presence of wood pasture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 1950s, the Forestry Commission planted conifers that could deliver soft wood for the timber market.
As these conifers reached maturity and were ready to be harvested, Forestry England made a commitment to work with the Trust to enable the full restoration of the wood pasture. This has involved removing 28 hectares (70 acres) of non-native conifers from the central part of Croft Wood.
The National Trust ranger team then re-planted thousands of trees in the area, including broadleaved tree species such as oak, sweet chestnut, beech, hornbeam and field maple. With shrubby species to produce plenty of fruit and flowers such as hawthorn, elder, rowan, hazel, apple, plum and pear.
Iain Carter, Tree and Woodland Adviser at the National Trust, explained why the project is important: “Restoring the wood pasture at Croft Castle is enormously beneficial to wildlife and the area’s biodiversity. We’ve already seen wildflowers and wildlife on the woodland floor flourish now that the dense conifers have been removed, and the benefits will be long-term too.
“Croft Wood links with three commons and opening it up to create the pasture means it is easier for wildlife to move across the site. The veteran trees across the site have space to thrive and benefit many insects, including some very rare beetles, invertebrates, bats and birds. Birds which have colonised the area since the restoration project began in 2015 include nightjar, which were previously considered extinct from Herefordshire, tree pipit and redstart. Adders have also been reintroduced and form an important part of the ecosystem.
“Restoring the wood pasture has also opened up the historic views and we can now see the Iron Age hillfort of Croft Ambrey, which is a Scheduled Monument.
“We work closely with the grazier at Croft Castle to ensure that the stock levels are right so that the habitat continues to improve. We continue to invest in the habitat by establishing a pollarding regime for the younger trees which are the future veterans to ensure a continuity of habitat.”
Wales – Pembrokeshire – Lowland meadows
Across Pembrokeshire the National Trust have revived and restored 193 hectares (476.9 acres) of meadows so plants, pollinators and wildlife can thrive over the past five years.
The works were part of the first ever Wales-wide meadow conservation and restoration project, Magnificent Meadows Cymru that began in 2019. Working in partnership with Plantlife Cymru and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, the collaborative goal of the project was to improve meadows for the benefit of nature and people. By the end of 2022 at a total of 25 sites cared for by the Trust in Wales, 213 hectares, or an area of around 50 times as big as the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, of species rich grasslands were either created or restored.
In Pembrokeshire eleven sites including Treseisyllt, Treheinif, Folkeston, and Southwood saw flourishing grassland meadows brought back on tenanted farms and land cared for by the Trust.
At Southwood Farm the project funded the restoration of 24.82ha (61.33acres) of species poor, agriculture land into wildflower rich, traditionally managed meadows. Situated on the coast above Newgale Beach, seed rich green hay hand spread by volunteer teams, as well as late summer hay cuts and grazing with Welsh black cattle, all contribute towards continued meadow restoration works at Southwood. Connections with the Pembrokeshire Meadows Group, a group created with support of the Magnificent Meadows project, saw Southwood participate in meadow open days and connect with a wider audience on the benefits of thriving grasslands.
A comparison of the 2019 and 2020 survey data at Southwood (before and after green hay and seeding) shows that there was a significant increase in species diversity. Averages across all the fields between the two years, show an increase from 0.9 species per quadrat to 4.3. One field even had an average of over 10 PIS per quadrat.
Mark Underhill, the National Trust’s Countryside Manager for Pembrokeshire said, “The creation of new meadows and increasing the diversity of existing grasslands, increases their potential for supporting a broader range of wildlife.
“A flower rich meadow can attract butterflies such as meadow brown and common blue, rare bumblebees and supports declining farmland birds such as skylark and meadow pipit. By improving biodiversity at each site, we will be increasing the resilience of habitat for priority species. Transforming once uninteresting grasslands into flourishing spaces for plants, pollinators, and wildlife.
“Each year we are able to harvest seed from the more established meadows and use it to build a legacy of expanding grasslands across Pembrokeshire, helping to safeguard these special places for nature and for future generations to enjoy.”