Natural England announces five, large-scale nature recovery projects

Natural England and Defra have announced the creation of five “landmark” nature recovery projects spanning nearly 100,000 hectares.

The multi-partnership projects will see newly created and restored wildlife-rich habitats to support wildlife populations; improve the landscape’s resilience to climate change; enable more people to connect with nature; make a significant contribution towards the national delivery of the international commitment to protect at least 30% of land and sea by 2030; and help to achieve the Environment Act’s legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030.

The nature recovery project areas

• Purple Horizons, West Midlands - extending across 10,000 hectares, Purple Horizons is restoring and connecting fragmented nationally and internationally important heathlands to create a mosaic of heathland-wetland-woodland-grassland, vital for the recovery and long-term resilience of the area’s reptiles, birds and pollinators.

• Cambridge Nature Network, Cambridgeshire - covering 9,200 hectares in and around the City of Cambridge, linking the inner city to rural countryside across a range of priority habitats and landscapes including chalk grassland, fenlands and ancient woodlands.

• Wye Valley, Peak District – covering 10,000 hectares, the project is conducting pioneering investigations on how an investment model can be created to generate funding for habitat restoration and creation, providing multiple nature recovery benefits.

• Somerset Wetlands, Somerset – with a new 6,140-hectare super National Nature Reserve at its heart, Somerset Wetlands is working with local partners and landowners across 60,000 hectares to enhance nature recovery through habitat creation and investing in strategic solutions that make the wetlands more sustainable and the landscape more resilient to climate change.

• Wendling Beck, Norfolk - the Wendling Partnership has come together to embark on an ambitious and inspiring nature restoration project linking initiatives around the Upper River Wensum and 10,000 hectares in the surrounding farmed countryside of mid-Norfolk.

An initial £2.4m in funding is being provided by Defra and Natural England, part of funding for the Nature Recovery Network.