Our Projects
Our Achievements
Hedge Laying Course
We started off our work as a cluster by organising a training course for farmers and land workers on the traditional rural skill of laying hedges. The course was delivered by Colin Hedley from FWAG Southeast and covered the history of the practice as well as the technique and some of the environmental benefits. Hedge laying was originally developed as a way of containing livestock but has many associated benefits such as prolonging the life of the hedge plants and providing better habitat for nesting birds and small mammals.
Owl Boxes
We have purchased 24 nesting boxes for birds of prey and put these up on our member farms. These boxes are made from recycled materials and will help to support populations of species such as barn owls and kestrels.
More information regarding where to purchase these boxes can be found here: Owl and Kestrel Nest Boxes
More information regarding where to purchase these boxes can be found here: Owl and Kestrel Nest Boxes
Grey Partridge Training
In February 2023 the group visited the Rotherfield Estate with Francis Buner from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to learn about the ecology of grey partridge and discuss how the estate has managed its arable land to increase the numbers of this iconic, and now red-listed, species.
Since then we have also had a trip to the Norfolk Estate at Arundel, hosted by Southern Water and GWCT, to see the measures put in place by the Duke of Norfolk as part of their "Peppering Project", which has increased their population of "greys" from 11 birds to over 2,000.
This year we brought the experts to us and had Francis Buner down to the Manhood Peninsula to visit some member farms and comment on the farmers' proposals for creating new habitat across the cluster area. This has helped the group to decide on the best seed mixes and locations of plots to support the small population of partridge that remains on the peninsula.
Since then we have also had a trip to the Norfolk Estate at Arundel, hosted by Southern Water and GWCT, to see the measures put in place by the Duke of Norfolk as part of their "Peppering Project", which has increased their population of "greys" from 11 birds to over 2,000.
This year we brought the experts to us and had Francis Buner down to the Manhood Peninsula to visit some member farms and comment on the farmers' proposals for creating new habitat across the cluster area. This has helped the group to decide on the best seed mixes and locations of plots to support the small population of partridge that remains on the peninsula.
Hedge Restoration
Our member farmers have planted kilometres of new hedgerow habitat over the years but are now restoring existing sections of hedge, using practices such as hedge-laying. We started out after our training course by laying a 50m stretch and this year have applied for funding to complete another 200m. Continuing and expanding this practice will improve the condition of the hedges and increase the populations of farmland birds such as yellowhammer and grey partridge.