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Martin Down farmers creating spaces for rare butterflies on Dorset-Hampshire border

15 farmers are working closely together to support wildlife alongside productive agriculture.

Rare butterflies and bees will find refuge in the countryside on the Dorset – Hampshire border after two new butterfly banks were created on the Martin Down Farmer Cluster. 

The chalk banks, on farmland close to the Martin Down National Nature Reserve, have been planted with kidney vetch and seven species of native wildflowers. The rare Small Blue Butterfly lays its eggs, lives and feeds exclusively on kidney vetch.

The Martin Down Farmer Cluster is a group of 15 farmers who farm the area around the nationally important Martin Down National Nature Reserve. Since 2017 they are working together to support the wildlife which make their home on the reserve and surrounding farmland by improving and developing wildlife-friendly habitat alongside productive agriculture.

The new butterfly banks were created on a farm within the Cranborne Estate which is part of the Martin Down Farmer Cluster. The project was funded by Natural England as part of a wider project of species enhancement through their ‘Creating Spaces for Species’ project and managed on their behalf by the Dorset-based Footprint Ecology. 

The chalk banks for small blue butterfly were part of a range of projects including scraping away the soil and sowing juniper seeds on Martin Down National Nature Reserve.

Megan Lock, Farmland Biodiversity Advisor with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is the Farmer Cluster Facilitator. She provides conservation advice and support to the farmer cluster and helped facilitate the project. Megan said: “After the banks were constructed, we planted nearly 400 kidney vetch plug plants, as well as seeding the banks with Horseshoe and Tufted Vetches, Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Self-heal, Lady’s Bedstraw, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Salad Burnet.

“These plants should thrive in the nutrient-poor soil but still leave lots of bare earth for mining bees and burrowing wasps. The Small Blue Butterfly has been chosen by the cluster farmers as one of their priority species. This new habitat should help them increase their range around the Martin Down NNR. The new butterfly banks will also be included in our monitoring programme so we will be able to measure the impact of this conservation work.”

The Small Blue Butterfly is known for being the smallest butterfly found in the UK, although it is not particularly blue in colour. The chalk downland of the Martin Down National Nature Reserve is a key stronghold for this threatened species.

The banks are approximately 30m long and 1-2m high but are situated on slopes so look much larger with a south-facing flank. They were constructed by digging a trench and burying the topsoil from the bank and adjacent scrape. The chalk sub-soil is then mounded on top covering the topsoil. This created bank and scrape features that are approximately 600-900 sq m in size.

The Martin Down Farmer Cluster is one of around 200 similar groups of farmers working together for wildlife in the UK. The Martin Down farmers have chosen turtle dove, hedgehogs, harvest mice, arable flora, bumblebees, small blue butterfly, dark-green fritillary, Duke of Burgundy and lapwing, soil organic matter and chalk downland as the priorities for their conservation work.

Since forming the farmer cluster in 2017, the Martin Down farmers achievements have included planting more than 10km of new hedgerows and increasing pollinator habitat by 50%, installing barn owl boxes, creating 21 turtle dove puddles and ponds and five new butterfly banks, creating habitat for grey partridge and monitoring hedgehogs. As facilitator Megan carries out wildlife monitoring to measure the impact of their work.

The new butterfly banks were created with the help of the staff of Cranborne Estate and Footprint Ecology.

farmerclusters.com

The Martin Down Farmer Cluster is one of over 200 farmer clusters across the UK. Farmers and land managers do a great deal for Britain’s rural environment, but there's only so much an individual, acting in isolation, can achieve on their own. By working together, helped by an advisor or ‘facilitator’, farmers and land managers can work together to collectively deliver greater benefits for soil, water and wildlife at a landscape scale.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) helped develop the concept and establish the ground-breaking farmer-led Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area project in 2012, and then the first pilots of ‘farmer clusters’ in partnership with Natural England in 2014.

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Clean Planet Energy partners with Crossroads Real Estate for 10 new advanced recycling facilities

The new joint venture, aiming at tackling the plastic waste crisis, could lead to over £400m of new UK investment deployed for the future facilities.

Clean Planet Energy has today announced a new joint venture with private equity firm Crossroads Real Estate to fund Clean Planet Energy’s flagship ecoPlant currently under construction in Teesside, North East England. This will be the first of 10 new ecoPlants that Crossroads Real Estate and Clean Planet Energy are jointly seeking to build and operate across the UK.

The new joint venture could see over £400m of new UK investment deployed for the future construction of these facilities to tackle the plastic waste crisis. Potential sites have already been identified in Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and South Wales , with further locations and announcements to be made in the months ahead.

Clean Planet Energy’s ecoPlant is a green, advanced recycling facility intended to process non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle waste plastics that would otherwise be sent to landfill. Each ecoPlant is designed to accept 20,000 tonnes of plastics each year and to convert this waste into (a) ultra-low sulphur fuels to replace fossil fuels in the transport and heavy-machinery sectors, and (b) petrochemical feedstocks, including naphtha, which can be used to make new plastic products without the need to use fossil-based feedstocks. 

Clean Planet Energy’s ultra-low-sulphur diesel can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75% compared to the use of traditional diesel, while the joint venture could also lead to over 200,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle waste plastics being repurposed for use in the circular supply chain each year.

By developing new ecoPlants throughout the UK, Clean Planet Energy and Crossroads Real Estate are opening a route for traditionally non-recyclable plastic waste to be repurposed into sustainable and circular-economy products; thereby cutting plastic pollution, reducing the amount of waste entering UK landfill, and also lowering greenhouse gas emissions when the waste is converted into ultra-low-sulphur diesel and used as a low-carbon fuel replacement.

David Gillerman, Founding Partner and CEO of Crossroads Real Estate said, “At Crossroads, we are committed to green opportunities and impact investing as demonstrated already through our sustainable hotels strategy. We look forward to partnering with Clean Planet Energy to roll out ecoPlants across the UK, including the flagship ecoPlant already under construction in Teesside.

The negative impact of plastic waste on our environment, plus the challenges we face from excess carbon emissions, made the joint venture with Clean Planet Energy a very compelling opportunity. With this investment, we have the ability to make a significant environmental and social impact across the UK.” 

Bertie Stephens, Group CEO of Clean Planet Energy, commenting on the extension of their vision that this joint venture enables, said, “Clean Planet Energy’s mission is to remove over 1 million tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste from our environment, every year. This exciting partnership gives us the capacity to make a significant dent in this target. 

"Having Crossroads Real Estate join us, not just for the development of potentially 10 new UK ecoPlant projects, but also for the construction of the current Teesside ecoPlant, means in Crossroads we have a partner who, like us, is focussed on making a sustainable difference with its investments; delivering on a vision of a greener United Kingdom and beyond. We’re now reaching out to local councils and private partners across the UK who could benefit from a reduction in plastic waste entering their landfill”.

Earlier this year, Clean Planet Energy announced a 10-year agreement with global energy company bp plc to offtake its circular products from its ecoPlants into the market. Each new ecoPlant will be able to process hard-to-recycle plastics in the UK; at their peak, the facilities should create over 750 direct new jobs, and potentially thousands of indirect jobs when the ecoPlants move from development into the construction and operation phases.

https://www.cleanplanetenergy.com.

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Community completes epic land buyout in ‘moment of history and hope’

A new nature reserve in the uplands of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland has doubled in size with the legal completion of the South of Scotland’s largest community buyout, in what organisers say is a ‘moment of history and hope’ for nature, climate and people.

The landmark agreement of £2.2m for 5,300 acres was reached between The Langholm Initiative charity and Buccleuch, after a massively ambitious community fundraising campaign.

With the official transfer of land ownership finalised on fourth November, the Dumfriesshire town of Langholm has achieved its original goal of raising a total of £6m to create a 10,500-acre reserve to tackle the nature and climate crises, and boost community regeneration.

John Hanrahan, Chair of the Langholm Initiative, said: “This is a moment of history and hope. It shows how communities can achieve the remarkable when people work together, even when the odds seem impossible. 

"Huge thanks go to the thousands of people who went above and beyond to make this happen, and to Buccleuch for working with us so positively throughout.

“The climate and nature emergencies are one of the biggest long-term threats facing us all, and restoring nature on a large scale is one powerful solution – so we are hugely proud to be playing our part, and we hope our story will inspire other similar projects across Scotland and beyond.”

Benny Higgins, Executive Chairman of Buccleuch, said: “Since first expressing interest in the area of Langholm Moor which now forms Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, The Langholm Initiative has shown what can be achieved with a strong, forward-looking plan, and has brought the community and those further afield along with them on the journey to accomplishing land ownership.

“For myself and the Buccleuch team, it has been a pleasure to be part of this story, and we look forward, with Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, to what can be achieved by them in the future.”

The buyout’s first stage made global headlines in 2021 after the community successfully raised £3.8m to purchase an initial 5,200 acres and six residential properties from Buccleuch. This led to the creation of the community-owned nature reserve in one of the biggest projects of its kind in the UK.

The additional 5,300 acres now added to the reserve include internationally significant peatlands, the headwaters of the River Tarras, and three properties including a working upland sheep farm.

A community-led plan will shape the next five years of priorities and activities, including community regeneration through a nature-based approach. Langholm was once a thriving textile centre, but the industry has declined in recent years. Six new jobs have already been created on the reserve.

Emerging opportunities include conservation grazing, regenerative farming, woodland and peatland restoration, and a possible field studies centre, alongside increased eco-tourism through hiking trails. A haven will be ensured for wildlife including rare hen harriers, the UK’s most persecuted bird of prey.

The buyout’s second stage was launched in October 2021. A public crowdfunder raised over £242,000, thanks to donations from almost 3,000 people worldwide. An anonymous private donor made a donation of £500,000, and the Scottish Land Fund awarded £1 million.

But success was only confirmed as the 31 July deadline was reached, with confirmation of donations of £300,000 from Alex Gerko, philanthropist and Founder of algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets, £100,000 from Anne Reece of the Reece Foundation, and £50,000 from John Muir Trust.

Buccleuch’s support for the buyout included agreeing a fixed purchase price, and extending purchase deadlines to give the community more time for fundraising.

Leading charities backing the campaign included Borders Forest Trust, John Muir Trust, Rewilding Britain, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Trees for Life, and the Woodland Trust.

The Langholm Initiative facilitates projects making a lasting difference to the local area and people. See langholminitiative.org.uk.

(Image courtesy of gary gray and Pixabay. For illustrative purposes only.)

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CleanupUK launches litter-picking hubs

A new initiative from UK-based charity CleanupUK launches today and it's offering communities access to free litter-picking equipment to protect their local environment from the impact of litter and to connect communities. 

CleanupUK has established litter-picking hubs to mitigate the effects of litter on neighbourhoods and local wildlife in the UK whilst tackling loneliness and isolation that can take place during the winter months.

The Cleanup Hubs have been developed in partnership with local community groups like youth centres, Councils for Voluntary Services (CVS), city farms, and a local mental health charity. 

Through collaboration and collective action, these organisations are coming together to serve their local community and to help foster a sense of pride in otherwise challenging times.

CleanupUK will offer litter-picking equipment such as high-vis jackets, litter-picking hoops, and litter-picking sticks to local hubs which can be borrowed for free by the local community. CleanupUK and partnering organisations believe that this will:

Support communities to look after their natural environment in a way that suits them

Give communities a place where they can come together and take practical action for the environment

Allow communities to make an immediate positive impact on their local neighbourhoods

Encourage people to connect with those they may otherwise not engage with and help foster a sense of community and local pride

The development of Cleanup Hubs comes against the backdrop of 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) which will see leaders from across the world gather to discuss the impact of climate change on our planet.

CleanupUK Chief Executive George Monck says, “We know that all of us can make an extraordinary impact on society and litter-picking is a great example of that. By coming together, local people can prevent harmful litter infiltrating parks and entering our rivers and waterways, all whilst building a stronger sense of community and having fun.”

What is CleanupUK? CleanupUK is a body that works with communities across the country, helping people look after their environment by holding local clean-ups. They aim to make it easy for every community to become involved in looking after their own environment.

A full list of current CleanupUK Hubs is below:

The Wharton Annexe, TS24 8NS

 Kilmarnock Children’s Centre, TS25 3NU

Jellystone Park, TS4 2SL

Belle Vue Community Sports & Youth Centre, TS25 1QU

Primrose Hill Community Centre, TS19 0HL

Mind, TN34 1HG

Stepney City Farm, E1 3DG

St-George-in-the-East, E1 0BH

Women’s Inclusive Team, E2 9LJ

Love Bethnal Green, E2 OTB

Jaywick Sands Community Forum, CO15 2LU

Baggator, BS5 0HH

West End Refugee Service, NE4 5JE

CVST Harwich, CO12 3AJ

CVST Clacton, CO15 1NZ

Eastbourne Sports Complex

To learn more please visit https://www.cleanupuk.org.uk.

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