Leaves Breathe’s Post

If you haven’t visited Waterhall yet, it’s time to get acquainted with one of the most exciting #rewilding 🌱 projects in the #biosphere 🌎 Once a golf course, Waterhall is being transformed into a thriving ecosystem, thanks to a collaborative effort between Brighton & Hove City Council, #ChangingChalk, National Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust, and The National Lottery and volunteer groups like #WildflowerGuardians This project is more than just an environmental initiative—it's about restoring our unique and rare habitat. #Chalk #grassland, like that at Waterhall, is among the rarest ecosystems in the world, supporting a variety of unique flora and fauna. The rewilding efforts here are bringing back species that haven't been seen in years! While ensuring this landscape thrives for future generations. Today, #Waterhall is a hub of activity for nature lovers. Butterfly surveys 🦋 nature walks 🌳, and traditional grazing 🐑 practices are all part of the ongoing work to restore this special place. If you haven’t yet visited Waterhall, or if you want to get involved, now is the perfect time to explore this remarkable transformation. Together with our partners, we're making sure that Waterhall remains a vibrant, biodiverse haven for years to come. 💚

Day 4 already – read on for more tips on rewilding your garden by Bright Green Nature…. 🌿 4. Get connected In Nature, having the ability to move between habitats is key to most species survival. Being able to move to different places, aids in the search for food and water, to find shelter, mates or avoid predators. Any population of a species which becomes isolated is at risk from extinction. This is even more the case with climate change – species which can move (or adapt) tend to fare better than those who cant. In this way, fences, walls and other barriers between gardens can and do limit the movement of wildlife, reducing their chances of survival. Even a stone patio, a manicured (fertilised) and paving stones can act as a barrier to movement to some invertebrates and make them vulnerable to predators. As a result, garden become barren places, lacking wildlife. So what can we do to help? Lots of things. · Planting native species hedges such as hawthorn or blackthorn is a brilliant way to connect places; · Consider introducing wildflower edges to pathways to allow insects to move; · Talk to your neighbours about opening passageways between fences to allow mammals such as hedgehogs to travel safely; · Allow grasses to grow on your lawn, or at least part of it and encourage others to do the same. Looking for more ideas to bring wildlife back to your garden? Contact us at [email protected] or see https://lnkd.in/eRFmNRxH for small grants to support rewilding in your space. #rewilding #ecosystemrestoration #nature #biodiversity #wildlife #conservation #garden #community

Allowing a patch of grass in gardens to grow long helps butterflies, study finds Letting parts of your garden go wild with long grass boosts butterflies – particularly in towns and intensively farmed areas, a study has found. Research from wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation analysing butterfly sightings from more than 600 gardens around Britain found a small but significant increase in butterfly numbers and species in gardens with a patch of long grass – and the more long grass, the more benefit. https://lnkd.in/gPiqremr

How to build a raingarden: easy step by step explanation and 'how to' video

After the success of the charismatic birds’ successful reintroduction into southern England since 2016, a white stork working group has been established to seek out habitat and gauge the political will to reintroduce the birds to Greater London. https://lnkd.in/eeYbFugm Citizen Zoo, a group specialising in community-led urban rewilding that helped establish the Ealing beaver project, will examine places where the birds could be returned and engage with London boroughs and local community groups. https://lnkd.in/e9PA7X9v There have been 40 sightings of white storks visiting parts of the capital in recent years, and although the birds seek out insect-rich farmland and wetlands some nest on the fringes of large European cities including Munich and Lisbon. In London, storks have been spotted at Beddington Farmlands nature reserve near Croydon and around Wandsworth Common. The increase in sightings in recent years is due to the success of the White Stork Project centred on the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, 45 miles south of central London. At Knepp, a flightless population of 30 birds brought over from a rescue centre in Poland has been used as a “magnet” to draw in wild storks flying overhead, and the birds have mixed and built nests in ancient oaks. Last year saw the best-ever year for the storks, with 26 chicks fledging from 11 nests across the 3,500-acre estate. The British-born birds have dispersed widely along the south coast and into Europe, with one found breeding in the Netherlands. #birds #nature #environment #sustainability #education #wildlife #habitats #climatechange https://lnkd.in/eYmfXD3n

Chalk streams are such a unique ecosystem and have always peaked my interest. Unfortunately they are dwindling and constantly under pressure. They have always peaked my interest from biological, chemical and geologic perspective (... I am a biogeochemist after all 😉). Let's work to conserve and preserve these valuable ecosystems.

ECOtistical post #12 - Having or showing an excessively high opinion of others because of their conservationist ecological practices I am a big fan of land being taken directly into #restoration. We need to balance current use of land for #agriculture and full protection for the #habitat/#species restoration, and individuals or companies from outside a local area must be cognizant of local #cultures and interests. And when these can come together, everyone and everything benefits. A significant plot of land in southwestern Alberta is the latest addition province's conserved grassland habitats. Bectell Ranch, a 323-hectare property near Police Outpost Provincial Park south of Cardston, is to be conserved through a partnership between the property owners and the The Nature Conservancy Canada The Bectell's history with ranching goes back over 100 years, and the historic property will now contribute to ongoing efforts to protect Alberta's unique grasslands. #ecotistical https://lnkd.in/ejFnspUF

We were pleased to see our first spring ephemeral blooming recently, Virginia springbeauty (Claytonia virginica). In restoration, land use history can be difficult to determine. Was a forest cleared for pasture or, more commonly in our region, did a grassland become forest when fire was removed? Spring ephemerals and other conservative (require high-quality habitat) forest or woodland herbaceous groundlayer species can be a clue. Ephemerals grow and bloom while leaves are off the trees in early spring, taking advantage of the increased sunlight. A diverse community of them suggests historical forest or woodland. But these are different ecosystems (a forest is usually defined as having more than 80% canopy cover and a woodland has 30-80%) so which was it? Each have typical groundlayer and understory species adapted to different amounts of sunlight, a woodland has a lush groundlayer but this can be lost if the woodland degrades to forest. The trees can help—oaks require sunlight for regeneration so they are a woodland species—but mesic hardwoods (e.g. maples, beech, tuliptrees) have expanded outside their natural habitat in coves and shady north slopes in the absence of fire. The solid tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) stands so common in Virginia are early successional regrowth following clearcuts or abandonment of pasture and are not natural forests. Every ecosystem has its natural place and we try determine what a site should be before doing restoration. 📸📝: Booker Moritz, Conservation Manager #ephimeral #farming #landmanagmenet #sustainablefarming #kinlochfarm #huntcountryva #fauquiercounty #theplainsva

Seven Developments joins a further 25 developers who have already signed up to the Homes for Nature voluntary scheme, representing nearly 100,000 new homes with bird nesting bricks and additional nature measures in the UK. Those that sign up to the scheme are committing to the following on all new development proposals from next month (September 2024): • One bird-nesting brick for every new home built • Hedgehog highways on all developments By providing more nest sites for birds in new homes, we can help swifts (who are on the Red List of highest conservation concern) and other cavity nesting birds increase their numbers once more. By creating access points through gardens and open spaces on new developments, we can help hedgehogs find food, safety and other hedgehogs! For more information about the scheme or to sign up, please visit: https://lnkd.in/enCBgwtZ #HomesForNature #nature #sustainableconstrution #naturerecovery

Good article talking about partnering with farmers to protect land. Particularly relavent in Solano these days!