Working with others to restore Wilder landscapes Annual Report of the Wilder Landscapes Project April 2019 – March 2020 F Southgate 0 Contents Introduction 2 Summary of Project Achievements 2019 - 2020 3 Our Work Advising Landowners 4 Catchment & Landscape Scale Work 7 Policy Work & Strategic Advice 19 Linking People and Landscapes 20 Our Volunteers 26 Finance and Fundraising 27 Appendix 30 1 Introduction Sussex Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Wilder Landscapes project supports local communities to restore wildlife-rich landscapes and the essential natural services that we all need for health and wellbeing. We help to deliver Nature Recover Networks, Natural Flood Management, Climate resilience and Wilding as well as caring for Sussex Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves, and supporting a multitude of other landowners, stakeholders and projects across Sussex. Our Wilder Landscapes projects have been delivering landscape scale conservation for over 19 years. We have also been running an innovative Natural Flood Management project, Sussex Flow Initiative, for over 8 years. With Climate change and biodiversity loss two of the biggest natural crises that we have faced in recorded history, now is the time to take as much positive and practical action that we can. Neither people, nor wildlife can survive without the essential services that our countryside provides including water purification, flood storage, carbon storage, food provision, access to nature health benefits, pollination services and more. We focus on creating community, climate and nature resilience through adaptation, collaboration and innovation. This year we have achieved some fantastic things with the help of local communities and our project partners. We have given wildlife advice on over 22,000 acres of land, for at least 84 unique landowners, and easily reached at least 2,000,000 people through our joint events, media and partnership working. We have worked with new partners to generate evidence on how our natural flood management project SFI contributes to the wider wellbeing of society, and we have acquired a licence to release beavers in Sussex for the first time in over 400 years. Our Landscape Innovation Conference was a huge success, with 300 people attending, and we have supported a range of local community groups and environmental projects with advice and funding. Our volunteers gave us over 150 days of their time this year to help us to do this. We are extremely grateful to everyone for the help and support we have received this year. 2 Summary of Achievements - Wilder Landscapes & Sussex Flow Initiative : 2019 – 2020 NATURAL FLOOD MANAGEMENT, NATURAL CAPITAL & HABITAT DELIVERY Number of trees planted = 2,826 (SFI) Woodlands restored / planted = 0.2 ha (SFI) Hedgerows restored / planted = 415 m (SFI) Permanent & Temporary Standing Water restored = 1000 m² (SFI) Floodplain washland opened up = 0.35 ha (SFI Ouse) 1 ha+ (SFI Powdermill) Natural leaky dams installed = 142 (SFI Ouse) 15 (SFI Powdermill) Potential amount of water stored (30 flash flood events) = 50,512.5 tonnes (5,512,500 L) SFI Ouse = 60,450 tonnes (60,450,000 L) SFI Powdermill Amount of carbon stored = 20.4 tonnes C02 per year (SFI) Natural Capital benefits to society = minimum £120,000 SPECIES DELIVERY Total Black poplars distributed = 255 to at least 12 landowners Beaver Licences acquired!!! = 1 ADVISING LANDOWNERS Area of land with advice given acres / ha = 17,006 acres / 6,882 ha (Wilder Landscapes) = 5,792.2 acres / 2,345 ha (SFI) = 14.8 acres / 6 ha (SFI Powdermill) Unique landowners advised = 84+ (32 new landowners – Wilder Landscapes) Number of Landowner reports written = 35 (10 river catchments – Wilder Landscapes) ADVISING OTHERS – PUBLIC LIAISON & PARTNERSHIP WORK Local Groups & Stakeholders worked with (minimum) = 60+ Total number of events = 18 No of people attending events = 819 No of press releases and articles (that we know about) = Minimum 40 Web page views (LL) = 16,230 page views / 13,007 unique views Total Blogs = 23 Total blog views = 6.017 page views / 5,512 unique views. Press coverage figures = SFI > 150,000 / WL = > 2,000,000 Facebook engagements = 10,000 + Enquiries dealt with (conservative estimate) = 2,600 FINANCE (Subject to final audit) Grant funding received = £8,000+ Grant funding given = £5,000+ VOLUNTEERS Volunteer hours = 343 SFI Ouse / 667 WL / 114 SFI Powdermill Total volunteer days = Min 49 / 95.3 / 16.3 days of donated time Estimated value of volunteer hours = £ 6,700 SFI/ £2,749 SFI P’mill/ £15,476 WL Estimated other ‘in kind’ contributions to our work = £15,000 minimum 3 Our Work Advising Landowners Each year we give landowners all over Sussex professional advice on how to enhance their land for wildlife. This year we have given advice as far afield as Oxford and Wales. Below is a summary of landholdings we have advised over the last year. It shows the depth and geographical range of our influence. The overall land coverage of the project’s advice since the project started in 2001 is considerably greater than shown. R = Return visit or Repeat advice Adur Padwicks – 38.9 acres Beechleaf – 11.9 acres Shortland Copse – 24.3 acres Brooklands Park – 51.5 acres Danefold farm – 198 acres R Brede, E Rother, Pett, Romney Rye & Tillingham Dunstalls – 7.8 acres Beech estate – 1321 acres Great Barn Farm, Chanctonbury – 49.4 acres Birchen Knoll – 12.3 acres Kingston Community NR – 11.4 acres Four Winds – 8.3 acres Knepp Rewilding Estate R – 1250 acres Flimwell park ponds – 20 acres Muntham House – 71.8 acres Maplesden – 301.5 acres New England Wood – 65 acres Maxfield manor – 251.5 acres R Shoreham Tree project – 10 acres Mere’s court – 23.2 acres Sompting Brooks – 20 acres R New House Farm, Etchingham – 265 acres R Sussex House – Cowfold – 24.7 acres Oaklands – 13.9 acres The Brook, Poynings – 2.6 acres Swallowtail hill – 38.6 acres Tottington pond – 0.8 acres The Cottage in the woods – 100.9 acres Wivelsfield parish – 21.3 acres Wadhurst park – 606 acres R Arun & Western Streams Chichester Coastal Plain Amberhurst – 2.5 acres Chichester chalk streams – 1000 acres Botany bay – 10.8 acres R Eastergate Chalk Stream – 50 acres Bridge House Farm – 61.7 acres Singleton pond – 0.1 acres R Burton Park – 311.2 acres Combe Haven Canada road gardens – 4.5 acres R Crowhurst Nature Reserve – 4.2 acres Ebernoe Common – 389.1 acres R Powdermill Trust – 15.5 R Haymans – 153.8 acres Marshalls Farm – 578.7 acres 4 Downs House – 13.7 acres East Ades, Chailey – 4.5 acres R East View Riding Centre – 31 acres Hillsdown farm – 104 acres R Holy Trinity School – 9.8 acres Huggett’s Furnace – 141.1 acres R Hurst barn – 400 acres R Lake Wood – 81 acres R Laughton Woods – 1041 R Lewes Brooks, RSPB – 60.4 acres Partridges, Uckfield – 3 acres Pickeridge farm – 125 acres R Piddinghoe lake – 35.5 acres Plashett wood – 1427 acres R Plumpton College – 1108 acres R Sheffield Park – 364.6 acres R Stanmer park pond – 0.4 acres Sussex University Campus – 200.4 acres Uckfield housing estate tree project – 70 acres Whitestone – 8.6 acres Woodsland farm – 297.5 acres R Pevensey Langney marsh – 10 acres Milland Farm – 50 acres Wey Cuckmere Hammer Farm House – 31.7 acres Berwick Angling Club – 8.8 acres East Dean & Friston Parish – 20 acres R Misc land = 300 acres Milton Gate Marsh – 43.2 acres R AREA WITH ADVICE GIVEN 2019 – 2020 = 17,006 Seven Sisters Country Park – 60 acres R acres / 6,882 hectares Vert woods – 50 acres R Medway Unique visits/advice = 84 and new visits = 32 Puck Hill – 3.7 acres Mole Burstow stream – 66 acres R Gatwick Greensapce – 1000 acres R Ouse Bentley Wildfowl – 593.5 acres R Buxted allotments – 2 acres Cannon wood / Brickhurst – 6 acres Chailey Common – 366 acres R Cockhaise farm – 439 acres R Coldean Eco Community – 5.6 acres Court House – 10.3 acres Cuckfield Parish – 1066.5 acres R 5 6 Landowner Reports We offer professional conservation and landscape advice across Sussex and produce comprehensive reports on how to enhance land for wildlife for key landowners visited. In total this year we produced 35 advisory reports across 10 different catchment areas :- Adur = 7 Eastern Rother = 4 Arun = 6 Medway = 1 Brede = 0 Ouse = 11 Chi CP = 1 Tillingham = 1 Cuckmere = 2 Western Rother = 2 TOTAL Landowner reports produced = 35 These reports include :- Bespoke maps highlighting site and landscape features of wildlife importance Recommendations for natural flood management, enhancingNature Recover Networks, Wilding, & the restoration natural processes (including beavers where appropriate). An assessment of the natural capital services provided on the land Advice on local species & habitats of note, and how to enhance land for notable species and habitats Ideas on sustainable living, regenerative farming, SUDS and alternative land uses Information on funding and potential partnership working Landowner Feedback on our Advice and Support “I wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to you and SWT for the time you spent putting together the report on our Farm. What is so exciting, is that many of the recommendations you made, we will be able to put directly into action. As a community we want to create a farm-scape that is bountiful for wildlife and all living things. Many thanks“ “Thank you so much for allowing Fran to come over and give us some local wildlife advice. It was absolutely brilliant.” “I wanted to emphasise to your Director how helpful SWT input has been, not only on what you've been doing directly on the land but also in terms of linking us with others.” “It’s so nice to speak to someone with such passion and knowledge and a sense of humour too! I had a very helpful email from SFI afterwards and I'm looking forward to doing some Fake Beaver work on our land!!” Cluster Farms Cluster farms are a new way for landowners to work together at a landscape scale.