In partnership with the Wildlife Trust BCN, Prologis has launched Lilbourne Meadows, a 193-acre nature reserve in the north west corner of Northamptonshire (part of Prologis RFI DIRFT).
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Originally designed as an ecological mitigation zone, which will also help screen Lilbourne village from the DIRFT expansion, Lilbourne Meadows was an opportunity to create a landscape that enhances the biodiversity of the area and will bring lasting benefit to the local community.

From the start of the project, Prologis worked closely with the Trust, alongside specialists from Natural England and the Environment Agency, to plan the nature reserve and design both new and enhanced habitats for wildlife, including curlew, great crested newts and brown long-eared bats.

“As our plans developed, it became clear that a nature reserve of this size and complexity would need expert, long-term management,” said Andrew Griffiths, Managing Director of Prologis UK. “We had full confidence in WT BCN team and both Natural England and the Environment Agency agreed with us that WT BCN would be the best organisation for the job.” The partnership at Lilbourne Meadows is working well; the nature reserve is gradually taking shape and the different habitats are attracting a wide variety of wildlife.

“Working on the creation of Lilbourne Meadows has been hugely rewarding,” said Oliver Burke, Director of Living Landscapes at WT BCN. “In what has been a true partnership, we have achieved great things from the extensive network of wetlands to building a bat house and a livestock barn. During the lambing season, the barn proved to be invaluable since we are using rare breed sheep for conservation grazing. We are excited to be taking on the long-term management of the site and look forward to working with the community of Lilbourne Village, as phase two and the path network is opened up. We want to make sure that the site is not just great for wildlife, but for people too.”