4 minute read
Born to be wild
from aboutfram issue 25
by aboutmedia
about the land
Born to be wild
Advertisement
Back in March, we visited some exciting rewilding projects that are closely intertwined with the theme of this year’s Alde Valley Spring Festival. Due to lockdown, the festival has been extended until the end of August, going online with a virtual exhibition, but it is amazing to see how swiftly the rewilding has become a reality.
Jason Gathorne-Hardy, founder of the festival and custodian of White House Farm, Great Glemham, has his roots deeply embedded in the soil of the Upper Alde, and for generations his family have been at the forefront of rural conservation in Suffolk. His grandfather was a founding member of the Wildlife Trust and Jason’s blood runs thick with this same love of nature and passion for preservation. Back in 2009, he developed a farm enrichment plan and entered his 220 acres into a 10-year Higher Level Stewardship scheme that included projects such as restoring and expanding hedgerows, restoring ditches and dykes, managing low input grassland and planting new woodland and winter bird seed patches. The farm has always been at the heart of the Spring Festival and many visitors will be familiar with these projects, witnessing first-hand the positive impact they are having on the natural environment.
This year, Jason decided that the focus of the festival should be on resident and visiting birdlife, and the theme for artists
about the land
taking part was ‘On a Turning Wing - A Celebration of Birds, Flight and Migration’. His aim was to start re-establishing important ecosystems on the farm that will aid the recovery of pinnacle species such as nightingale, snipe, lapwing and hobby. When I visited in March, the dining room table was strewn with inspiration: collected feathers; a nest of leaves; discarded antlers; charcoal sketches and piles of books bearing titles such as ‘The Tranquil Gardener’, ‘The Seabird’s Cry’ and ‘Miraculous Abundance’; important passages marked by a downturned page or a sprig of pressed cherry blossom. Jason has also followed with interest the progress of the impressive rewilding projects at the Knepp Estate, West Sussex, where the turtle dove has made a remarkable comeback in a dramatically short space of time, and he is part of the Wildeast pledge to restore nature across East Anglia on a grand scale.
At White House Farm, Jason and his team has started on three rebirding projects to enrich and restore the local habitats. The first of these is the creation of a series of lakes in his water meadows above the River Alde. Initial testing two years ago showed that the land would retain water, and after taking advice from the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Natural England and the Environment Agency, Dave Rose and his digger got to work. Back in early spring, the soil was freshly turned, uncovering a layer of peat about a foot below the surface that Jason hoped would act as sponge and help keep the water levels high. So far this has indeed been the case, with water weeds and reedbeds starting to take hold
about the land
and moorhen, herons, swallows and ducks visiting – even a plover putting in an appearance - and it would be amazing to see white egrets and spoonbills feeding along the shallows one day.
The second project was to clear a 1.5 acre site within part of the woodland to allow sunlight in. Evidence suggests that closed canopy woodland is not as beneficial for the ecosystem as having a series of small clearings, and Jason hopes that the work, managed by Hunts Tree Surgery, will see a rise in the diversity of bird species. The last project is a wildflower enrichment programme that Jason has worked on with advice from Charlie and Jack Steed. Teasel, yarrow and oxeye daisy seedlings were transplanted by hand from other parts of the farm, hazels sticks being used to mark key species, but by next year I suspect
these will be lost amongst the grasses, billowing cow parsley and an abundance of wildflowers, so important for our insects and birdlife.
Every spring Jason opens his farm gates to celebrate the importance of food, farming and the landscape, and the artwork at this year’s festival is a wonderful reflection of his vision for recovery and restored vibrancy. These may be unusual times but perhaps, now more than ever, we can finally understand the importance of nature. I feel we are on the brink of a pioneering wildlife revolution, and along with Jason, believe that now is the time to make a commitment to restore the balance… before it is too late.
