Collaboration at scale: Update on our Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Have you heard about the Local Nature Recovery Strategies? Find out more about ways to get involved with planning for nature recovery across Sussex.

One of the most important issues affecting our landscape is the interlink between nature and farming. How can we achieve sustainable food production and boost biodiversity? Lydia Baxter, Sussex Wildlife Trust's Wilder Ouse Project Officer, tells us more about how the project works to support nature and farming.

The Scrubland Superheroes project is in full swing, creating "stepping stones" of scrub habitat along the corridor. Project Officer Rachel Bicker lets us listen in on her work monitoring birdsong at one of her target sites.

The devastating impact of this winter's persistent rains has posed significant challenges for farmers across the region. What does this mean for nature recovery?

W2W Founding Farm, the Iford Estate, near Lewes, East Sussex, makes the press this month for their pioneering work in habitat creation.

Monitoring the corridor will take an army of experts and citizen scientists. Are you up for the challenge?

How do we create 100-miles of nature recovery corridor, across a densely populated landscape? Our roadmap to a corridor paints a picture of how we might achieve this huge task.

A myriad of species should one day benefit from 100 miles of connected landscape. But how might a human navigate the corridor? Ian Rogers takes on the challenge.

Tony Whitbread, independant ecologist and President of Sussex Wildlife Trust, reflects on the space between seasons and how it allows us to think beyond binaries.

Sussex is one of the most wooded regions in the country. Brush off your boots and explore the best of the autumn colour across the corridor.

New habitat creation project receives Natural England funding

Gravetye joins the corridor, with 600 acres of farmland, woodland and wildlife gardens.

Off the coast of Sussex something amazing is happening. Two years ago the pioneering Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw came into place, pushing bottom-towed trawling 4km off the West Sussex Coast. The changes are now starting to happen.

The interface between land and sea is particularly important for marine conservation, going back to the idea of connectivity being central to all of our efforts. While it may not be the first thing that springs to mind when we talk about pollution, sediment is a real problem for our marine habitats.

We were delighted to get news of Sayaan, a cuckoo that was tagged at Knepp in May, traveling along the corridor route from Knepp towards the Sussex coast and back up towards Ashdown Forest.

Just as soils and land-based ecosystems have become degraded, so have marine habitats. Sewage is regularly discharged into rivers and seas, agricultural run-off upsets the natural balance of the water, while trawling destroys the seabed and the kelp forests that once flourished.

A journey up the Arun arm of the corridor with the Wildlife Trust.

This is your chance to be part of a pioneering project benefitting nature recovery in Sussex and beyond. Your pledges - small or large - will help establish a nationally-significant 100-mile corridor for wildlife, regenerating our local ecosystems for years to come.

Weald to Waves is a citizen-led project powered by the individuals and groups pledging to take part. As project coordinators, we think a key part of our role is to provide the tools and resources the network needs to support nature recovery along the corridor. Among these tools are the interactive maps on our new website.

Perhaps first we should ask, why is a corridor important? Traditionally, conservation has tended to focus on restoring and protecting key areas, such as nature reserves. These core areas are vital for maintaining sustainable populations of wildlife species. However, as human land use has intensified, protected areas have become islands, isolated in the wider landscape. Gradually, species ranges become restricted to these areas, leading to declines, low genetic health, and eventually to local extinctions.

In a groundbreaking move to safeguard UK waterways, the River Ouse is poised to become the first English river granted legal rights. Lewes District Council has embraced the concept of recognising the rights of nature, acknowledging the crucial need to protect local rivers. This paves a potential pathway to enhancing the health of ecosystems by affording them legal protections similar to those of human beings.

The Dartford warbler is one of the defining species for the conservation of this important area. It’s easily overlooked, sometimes giving itself away by its scratchy song and occasional song-flight. If conditions are right, pairs can raise two, even three broods each summer. Once down to only 10 pairs in the whole of the UK, habitat protection and management, and warmer winters, now mean the UK population is in the thousands.

The UN estimates the planet has 60 harvests left, based on the current rate of soil depletion.

This is an entirely valid concern in these uncertain times - is it possible to sustain food security alongside nature recovery?

We started the year with a new global commitment to set aside 30% of the planet for nature by the end of this decade.