DoomsdaysCWBid to save early #rewilding site that hosts rare #nightingales and #TurtleDoves
#Conservationists have launched a £1.5 million appeal to buy #farmland that was left to #nature 37 years ago
by Emily Beament
Tuesday 18 June 2024
"A farm left to nature years before 'rewilding' rose to prominence has become a unique and important site for wildlife, say conservationists launching a bid to save it.
"The owner of Strawberry Hill, near Bedford, stopped farming his land 37 years ago, with once-arable fields reverting to #scrubland that is now a haven for a host of #wildlife including threatened nightingales, #cuckoos and turtle doves.
"But the 150-hectare (377-acre) site has no official designations or protections, and following the owner’s death, there were fears the land could be sold and returned to agriculture.
"After gaining a temporary stay of execution for the site, the #WildlifeTrust for Beds, Cambs and Northants (#BCN) has raised enough money to buy half the land.
"Now the conservation charity is launching a £1.5 million appeal to secure the whole site, saving the habitat and its rich wildlife and providing a 'unique' opportunity to have a decades-long head start on rewilding the land for nature."
#StrawberryHillsForever #Rewilding #RewildingUK #BedfordEngland
