Connecting Constable and Gainsborough Country

Connecting Constable and Gainsborough Country is a Landscape Recovery project, funded by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), that aims to restore woodlands and reconnect habitats throughout south Suffolk.
 

Working with the Stour Valley Farm Cluster and Wool Towns Farm Cluster, Suffolk Wildlife Trust's vision for the project is to develop the pilot scheme in which we enhance and connect wildlife habitats across farmlands in the project area - which extends through the Stour, Brett, and Box valleys.

The goal is to create a wilder environment in which wildlife can move across the landscape including an expansive network of farmland enhance for nature. This will include:

• habitat corridors encompassing woodland, scrub, grassland, and ponds
• wildlife-friendly farmland landscapes
• well-managed ancient and secondary woodlands
• natural heritage features.

One of the key focuses of this project it to recover, restore, and reconnect woodland sites across the valleys - habitats vital for flagship species such nightingale, turtle dove, great crested newt, and specialist flora. Most notably, we hope to reconnect rare populations of hazel dormouse which are currently restricted to only a small number of sites in south Suffolk & north Essex.

Another key focus of the project is to establish a programme of sustainable deer management. High numbers of roe, fallow and muntjac deer in the valleys are already impacting on woodland conditions, tree planting, and agroforestry projects - as well as impacting crops.

Finally, the project will support participating farms to further develop their sustainability and biodiversity by providing advice on low-impact farming methods that support nature recovery and can reduce carbon emissions – a journey which several of the cluster farmers have already begun. The combination of newly created and better managed habitats will help contribute to carbon sequestration and provide a range of other ecosystem services, including nutrient filtration, biodiversity uplift, erosion control, and the access and recreation of flood-load reduction. The project will look to develop the markets for these services, to enable project participants to partner with private ventures to support and deliver the objectives for nature.