The Knepp Castle Estate is an extraordinary resource for our District. Not only do we benefit indirectly from an area of great biodiversity in our doorstep but there are many ways in which locals can visit and enjoy the estate first hand. Since 2002 Knepp has gone through an extensive and highly successful ‘rewilding’ process and I was pleased to learn that their Adur River Restoration project was one of 22 projects nationwide recently to receive funding under the first phase of Defra’s Landscape Recovery scheme. I visited last week to learn more about the projects being spearheaded by the Knepp Wildland Foundation.
The funding for the Adur project will be used to support 27 local farms in restoring nature, reducing flood risks, improving water quality, and boosting biodiversity along the river. Assisting farmers with the improvement of water courses for instance has multiple benefits including to water quality and wildlife. The project requires collaboration between farmers and land managers as well as the bodies supporting it, which include the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
The Knepp Wildland Foundation is also playing a leading role in the pioneering ‘Weald to Waves’ project which envisions the creation of a 50-mile-long corridor from Ashdown Forest to the sea via the Knepp Estate. The project hopes to combine ecological possibility with economic opportunity by incentivising land managers through raising natural capital funding to pay for land put into nature conservation.
Weald to Waves is rooted in engagement from local communities, with the corridor mapped using Local Nature Recovery Strategies developed by local councils and Wildlife Trusts. These strategies form the Nature Recovery Network (NRN); a major commitment in the Government’s 25 Year Environmental Plan and enacted by the Environment Act 2021.
By 2042 the Government aims to: restore 75% of protected sites on land to favourable condition so nature can thrive; create or restore 500,000 hectares of additional wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites; and recover threatened and iconic animal and plant species by providing more diverse and better connected habitats.
Biodiversity loss is a global problem that requires a global solution and I am so pleased that Knepp are playing such a pivotal role in nature recovery schemes on both a local and national level.