Wonderful news – we have been awarded a grant by the High Weald Nature and Community Fund to help us create a wildlife-friendly corridor between RSPB Broadwater Warren and Groombridge village.
We’ll be working with the farmers and landowners to explore the possibilities of their land, looking at the soil, plants and wildlife that are already there, drawing on their deep knowledge of their land, and bringing in expert consultants to suggest ways to build a much stronger link between the wildlife hotspots around our village.
We’ve already started by taking soil samples to find out what plants are likely to thrive (and are finding that the very high nutrient levels in some places, from years of farming inputs, may be why there are relatively few wildflowers in many fields). We’ll be conducting surveys of hedges, trees, birds, bats and small mammals and building a really good picture of what’s here.
We plan to do some trial sowing and planting to see what works best.
Thank you to Sussex Lund, who fund these grants, to High Weald National Landscape who administer them and are giving us great support, and above all to the fabulous land owners who want to take part in this project. It’s exciting!
Wild Groombridge 