Biodiversity
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.
As habitats increase along the corridor, they will provide safe passage for the great autumn bird migration. Ecologist and wildlife guide, Matt Phelps, shares how some species are embarking on their seasonal journey southward.
Fungi are a world of their own. Find out about the fascinating role they play in connectivity.
Sussex’s coastline has long been a favourite destination for locals, tourists and wildlife. However, the deterioration of sea water quality in the region has been a growing concern in recent years.
Shining a light on one of Sussex’s two seahorse species, which are facing a range of conservation challenges.
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.
Coastal habitats each offer a unique and vital ecosystem. Explore these diverse environments and the species they support.
A journey up the Arun arm of the corridor with the Wildlife Trust.
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.
The good news, from my experience, is that a wild garden – especially a mature one – can be extraordinarily resilient and resistant to even very prolonged periods of drought. Even through months of heatwave everything stays green and lush; no plants seem to show stress, and nothing needs watering.
I live in a terraced house in South Portslade, just outside Brighton, and have a modest 40ft garden. In the four years I’ve lived here, I’ve made my garden as welcoming to wildlife as possible, and it’s now teeming with hedgehogs, frogs, toads and newts, along with slow worms, birds and insects. Not bad for a small urban plot.
With the biodiversity crisis taking root in people’s minds, weeds have become a recent topic of interest and discussion. We look at the role native plants play in our gardens and greenspaces.