#Artists to document #rewilding project

13 May 2025
Clare Worden & Robby West

"A group of artists are visiting a #heathland rewilding site to capture its changing flora, fauna and landscape.

"Thirty artists from The Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) will spend time this year at The Massingham Heath Project in west Norfolk.

"Half of the land at the 2,500-acre site (1,000 hectares) is being re-wilded to benefit nature, while half is used for conventional agriculture.

"An exhibition and book documenting how the landscape changes throughout the seasons are being produced.

"Land owner Oliver Birkbeck said: 'They're looking at the health as well as the agricultural landscape, the farm-scape because it is all part of the same story.'

"He described the artists as 'rock stars' and said he was so proud for them to visit the site - which is east of King's Lynn and Sandringham.

" 'The job of the natural world is to in some way elevate us from the boring imperatives of our daily lives. That's also the job of the artist. So this is a marriage of the two which I think is a really beautiful thing,' he added."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2xndvz2qno

#RewildingUK #Art #Nature #SolarPunkSunday

More than 700,000 trees planted in Surrey

More than 700,000 trees have been planted in Surrey as the county council aims for 1.2 million saplings by 2030.

May 8, 2025

"In the past year, Surrey County Council said its initiative had created about 49,000 new trees and #hedgerows.

"This brings the total number of trees planted to 768,832 since 2019 – more than halfway to the county's target of planting one tree for every Surrey resident.

"A range of community projects have been supporting the challenge.

"Meanwhile, an orchard of 10 fruit trees was created at Goldsworth Park Medical Centre in #Woking as part of the #NHSForest scheme, which aims to transform green spaces within healthcare sites to improve health, #wellbeing and #biodiversity.

"Marisa Heath, Surrey County Council's cabinet member for environment, said: 'Trees play a vital role in enhancing the appearance of Surrey's green spaces, while also strengthening our climate resilience.

" 'We couldn't do this alone, so I thank all the partners, communities and residents who support this initiative. I encourage you to continue to do so to achieve our target for the benefit of our communities and future generations to come.' "

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9e9y48k1vo

#Rewilding #RewildingUK #SolarPunkSunday #PlantingTrees #GreenSpaces #SurreyUK

#ExeterUK - Former Exeter #GolfCourse to become public #Greenspace

10 February 2024

"A former golf course in Exeter is being turned into a 'tranquil greenspace for people and #wildlife'.

"Exeter City Council said dozens of fruit trees had already been planted and it would become a community orchard in the future.

"A #WildflowerMeadow will also be created at #NorthbrookPark to 'bring colour and wildlife to the space'.

"Ruth Williams, lead councillor for Place and City Management, said it would improve people's wellbeing. Alongside the new orchard, there are plans to upgrade access and the footpath.

"She said: 'It's to increase the biodiversity in the park, it's to improve the space for public use and it's to provide a community orchard.

"'It was earmarked for development for houses, we were going to build lots of houses there, but the local community asked us to have a rethink on that one.

"'We went out to public consultation in 2022, with the idea of actually turning it into a wildlife park, and 90% of the respondents supported that, so that's what we did - we listened to residents and we're on the path of converting a large green space into a wonderful amenity for visitors and Exeter residents to enjoy.'"

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-68226399
#rewilding #RewildingUK #SolarPunkSunday

#CheshireUK - #Frodsham #rewilding: What happens when a #GolfCourse returns to #nature?

"A former golf course where top footballers once teed off is now home to badgers and foxes after being left to return to nature as part of a rewilding project.

"Frodsham Golf Course in Cheshire closed a few years ago and is now managed by the #WoodlandTrust, who hope to plant about 40,000 #NativeTrees.

"Site manager Neil Oxley says the area will become 'somewhere for people to see nature close to where they live'.

Watch:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-64281602
#RewildingUK #SolarPunkSunday

I was watching a video with the smalls earlier about pond restoration. It was showing that ghost ponds and zombie ponds can be taken back from their undead state.

The project is the Norfolk Pond Project and even has a free guide (pdf) on the restoration, creationg and management of ponds.

What appears, to me, from the video is that the farmers, sorry to put blame at farming community, don't seem to be good custodians of the land they're on and fill in or mis-manage the land adjacent to the ponds.
One of the ponds has over a meter of leaf-litter sitting, anaerobically digesting, at the bottom of a pond, it's starved of light and starved of wind. Haven for midges and the like but simultaneously bad for bats and birds that feed off the insects.

#ReWilding #ReWetting #ReWildingUK #PondLife

IMHO donating to a wildlife trust seems to be one of the best investments at the moment. So many good things being attempted right now across the UK by wildlife trusts. Donations required to help secure the purchase of Skiddaw by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust:

‘A 100-year vision’: Skiddaw’s barren peak to spring to life in ambitious rewilding'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/skiddaw-forest-cumbria-rewilding-england-nature-reserve?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#rewilding #rewildinguk #cumbria #skiddaw #wildlifeConservation