Securing the future of a Bedfordshire farm which was left to rewild for 25 years represents one of the most exciting land transactions in our Trust's history. Surrounded by arable farmland, the 150-hectare Strawberry Hill at Knotting Green, Beds, presented a unique opportunity to save a site rich in nature and create a wild visitor destination. Now, thanks to a hugely generous award of £975,000 via Biffa Award, a multi million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to communities and environmental projects across England and Northern Ireland as part of the Government's Landfill Communities Fund, WTBCN can further secure ownership of this special place.
In the 1990s an enlightened farmer gave up sowing crops and turned his land over to nature - Strawberry Hill has now been transformed from arable fields to the largest area of scrub and young woodland in the region. Bird surveys have shown healthy populations of nightingales, willow warblers, whitethroats and garden warblers with habitat ideal for turtle doves. With a farmhouse, barns and outbuildings and ample land, the site also presents an ideal location for a nature-based visitor attraction at some point in the future.
Brian Eversham, WTBCN CEO, said: “Strawberry Hill is such a special place, on a scale rarely seen in lowland Britain: five times the size of an average nature reserve with 370 acres of flower-rich grassland, amid naturally-developing hawthorn and blackthorn, out of which rise magnificent old oak and ash trees, and the biggest stand of mature burred elm that I’ve seen.
“Giving the Trust time to raise the funds to purchase the freehold of the site, it was initially bought by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Julia Davies of We Have the Power with help from some generous philanthropic lenders. Thanks to the Biffa Partnership Scheme we can now begin to take ownership ourselves. We will soon be embarking on a research and development project, engaging with local stakeholders and the community to ensure that we create a site which attracts new audiences without impacting on the species present.”
Rachel Maidment, Biffa Award Grants Manager, said: “Biffa Award is extremely privileged to be able to support WTBCN with the purchase of Strawberry Hill. Through our Partnership Scheme we can make significant grants to projects that introduce, conserve, or protect our wildlife, paving the way for nature’s recovery on a large scale. Securing habitats like this for a variety of rare species and providing the opportunity for people to experience, explore and enjoy wildlife is extremely important.”
Experienced entomologist Graeme Lyons said: “I have recorded over 470 species of invertebrate so far during surveys of Strawberry Hill, with some high daily counts of over 200 species made over the summer, including Nationally Scarce spiders and moths. In the spring, it was remarkable how abundant moth larvae were when beating the hawthorn scrub. IUCN red listed species were the highest seen on any survey I have conducted for several years. It is vital that this unexpected jewel of biodiversity remains in conservation hands, to safeguard both its significant inherent invertebrate interest.”
In depth surveys have been conducted in the past year, see below left.
