This year, Surrey Wildlife Trust will work with groups of local landowners in the west of the county – including Elstead, Thursley, Haslemere - to achieve a vital step forward for Surrey’s wildlife and landscapes: the connection and safeguarding of lowland heathland sites that benefit both people and wildlife.

Lowland heathland, created centuries ago by the actions of large herbivores and then the grazing animals used in agriculture, is a vital habitat for rare bird, reptile, dragonfly and plant species - but almost 80 per cent has been lost over the last 200 years. 

Through the Natural England funded Heathland Connections Nature Recovery Project, the Trust will work with the Heathland Connections partnership - which includes National Trust, Land App, The Surrey Hills board, Surrey County Council and Waverley Borough Council, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) and RSPB – to help landowners carry out vital conservation work on adjoining areas of land. This should halt the fragmentation and erosion of heathland habitats which threatens to undermine their resilience and suitability for wildlife, and is part of the government’s commitment to a growing national Nature Recovery Network of wildlife-rich sites.

This work will make the landscape more resilient to climate change and other pressures caused by human activity, such as wildfires and disturbance to ground nesting birds. It will also help to reduce the financial and human costs of the climate and nature crisis, creating a better experience for people using the landscape for recreation, business and learning.

Improving and connecting heathland on a landscape scale in Surrey will be an important step towards meeting the government-backed 30by30 goal, which aims to restore and protect 30 per cent of land and sea for nature in the UK and internationally by 2030.

Starting from summer 2024, the Heathland Connections Nature Recovery Project will offer private and public sector landowners and managers of all sizes - from large to small scale farmers, woodland and forestry managers, and businesses such as golf clubs - a range of support to help them work together for nature. This includes:

• Access to the LandApp - leading mapping software for assessing the ecological condition of land, its value as natural capital and its suitability for funding support.
• In-person advice on land management and best practice in conservation and nature restoration from SWT staff.
• Signposting and consultancy on how to access relevant financial support, including via Biodiversity Net Gain and Carbon Credit payments and Environmental Stewardship Grants.
• Species-specific surveys to help them understand what lives on their land and what steps and support can be invoked to protect it.

Heathland Connections is one of twelve landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects being delivered collaboratively across England. Surrey Wildlife Trust successfully bid for inclusion in the scheme in 2023.

Ben Habgood, Nature-based Solutions Manager at Surrey Wildlife Trust said:

“With our natural landscapes and the services that nature provides under unprecedented attack, nature recovery isn’t just the right thing to do – it is a direct source of income, a great way to reduce the costs of wildfires or flooding, and a sound investment in the future monetary and social value of land.  We want to work with landowners of all types to assess how their principles and interests intersect with our urgent mission to restore our landscapes to good health and boost nature’s recovery. Only by working together can we safeguard the things that make Surrey special for generations to come.”

Victoria Hawkins, Heathland Connections Senior Advisor at Natural England said:

"The Heathland Connections partnership is working to reverse biodiversity decline in our local area, contributing to a national Nature Recovery Network of different habitats that enables wildlife to thrive.

“By increasing, enhancing, restoring, and connecting rare heathland areas, the Nature Recovery Project aims to enhance climate resilience and improve access to nature while creating a network of wildlife-rich sites that supports the distinctive character and productive landscape of Surrey. We are proud partners in this project knowing that nature recovery can only be achieved by working together."

If you are a landowner and or land manager and would like to find out more, please contact: NBS@surreywt.org.uk