Corporate Partnerships

Suffolk Wildlife Trust has partnered with okoHaus UK Limited, the experts in high performance window and door systems, to create more opportunities for nature at Martlesham Wilds nature reserve, a site which is currently not functioning at its full biodiversity potential.

The partnership will help enhance habitats at the 289 acres of newly acquired land and will involve restoring traditional grazing marshes for internationally important birds. Fencing the boundary of the reserve will allow future livestock introductions to roam across the former arable landscape. During the initial period, tree and shrub seedlings are expected to become widely established across much of the higher land while at the same time the hedges will thicken and start to spread into the fields. Wildflowers and grasses will grow from long-buried seeds in the soil along with plants such as gorse and broom. 

It is hoped that the ‘wilding’ approach will establish important habitat links to the wider network of breeding bird habitats in the Deben estuary and will help to build resilience against the changing UK climate. The work is expected to begin over Winter 2023/24. 

okoHaus became an Investor in Wildlife Business Member at Partner Level with Suffolk Wildlife Trust after a visit to the nearby, newly acquired Martlesham Wilds.  

John Lewis said of okoHaus: ‘I was extremely impressed to hear about the multiple benefits that will be delivered to the local community and for nature’s recovery through the restoration of Martlesham Wilds. Our investment in Suffolk Wildlife Trust will make a positive difference to nature, people and climate on a large scale and reflects our environmental commitment as a business, which was founded on the desire to make a positive difference in the fight against climate change’. 

Suffolk Building Society has supported the successful land purchase for the Martlesham Wilds nature reserve as part of their Saving Suffolk campaign. The Society strengthened the connection between its stakeholders and wildlife by organising regular engagement opportunities that celebrated local nature. These have included exclusive guided walks for their members and contractors.

Staff from Suffolk Building Society attended Wild Work Days, where they had the chance to try out some hands-on conservation tasks, including the removal of pine and birch seedlings and restoring a willow ‘withy’ bed. To help spread the word about Martlesham Wilds, Suffolk Building Society commissioned an emotive film which premiered at their AGM. The film has since been viewed by thousands of people across the county on social media. 

Richard Norrington, CEO of Suffolk Building Society, said: "I had the opportunity to walk around Martlesham Wilds right at the start of the campaign and, I have to say, I was really impressed. Securing this land required significant fundraising, and we’re thrilled that Suffolk Wildlife Trust, their supporters, and our members, have jointly managed to hit this ambitious target!"

Having been a long-term business member of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Harwich Haven Authority have taken the opportunity to invest more of its support towards biodiversity outcomes in Suffolk as part of their 2023 ESG Strategy.

The collaborative partnership with Suffolk Wildlife Trust is currently exploring ways to recover nature at scale and involve staff and stakeholders in taking meaningful action for nature.

Linzi Jobber, Sustainability Manager, said: "We continue to find our Partnership with Suffolk Wildlife Trust incredibly positive. Their local expertise about the marine and terrestrial habitats is already helping us to identify where the biggest gains are likely to be for biodiversity and people in the Haven. We look forward to building on this open and mutually beneficial relationship."

Axter joined Suffolk Wildlife Trust as a Partner Member in 2022 having enjoyed a netwalking event around a local nature reserve.

The collaboration is looking at the feasibility of establishing green roofs to a design that reflects natural habitats local to the project area. To support their staff ‘towards a commitment to sustainability and create space for big ideas about how they can make a difference in our wider communities’, staff were encouraged to attend two Wild Wellbeing Days at Bradfield Woods national nature reserve. By engaging through wild art, forest bathing and sensory activities, employees took time in nature to recharge and benefit from a boost of nature connectivity. 

The Wildlife Trusts and Jordans Cereals farmers work together to make space for wildlife on their farms.

Farmland covers more than 70% of the UK’s land area and therefore farmers are critical in helping bring about nature’s recovery. There are more than 30 passionate and dedicated farmers growing oats for Jordans. One of them is in Suffolk Wildlife Trust's patch. Every Jordans farmer works with an expert farm advisor from their local Wildlife Trust to create a farm action plan, which helps the farmer to manage at least 10% of their land for wildlife. Our industry-leading standard for land management has been developed in partnership between The Wildlife Trusts and Jordans.

Read more about The Wildlife Trusts' with Jordans Cereals

Thanks to a hugely generous £38 million donation from Aviva, The Wildlife Trust’s are working to restore approximately 1,755 hectares of temperate rainforest across the British Isles. 

The Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Programme is a £38.9 million, 100 year programme working in a long term partnership with Aviva. Native to the British Isles, temperate rainforest is an incredibly rare and biodiverse habitat, rarer even, than its tropical counterpart. Once covering a fifth of our land, it is now limited to scattered fragments totalling approximately 1% of the UK. 

Temperate rainforest is often affectionately described as woodland where there is ‘green on green on green’, due to the hundreds of species of plants and lichens which cover every available surface. Tree varieties can include oak, hazel, holly, alder, rowan, birch, and willow, and their trunks serve as the ideal surface for the growth of numerous mosses, lichens, fungi, ferns, and liverworts. Areas of rainforest often feature open glades or river gorges too. Conditions for growth require a very particular oceanic climate: wet, humid, and without extremes of temperature. Many of the moisture-loving plants mentioned above also depend on the air being relatively free from pollution. 

This programme will go a step further than traditional habitat restoration and will work to create entirely new rainforests on eligible sites across the bioclimatic envelope (the area along our Atlantic coastline with the specific conditions needed for rainforest to thrive). We aim to reconnect the few, fragmented sites that remain and create bigger areas of well managed rainforest- the start of a 100 year journey to rebuild the lost rainforest of the British Isles and Northern Ireland. It is part of a wider programme of nature-based projects funded by Aviva to remove carbon from the atmosphere. It will improve biodiversity and climate resilience by restoring wild places including British temperate rainforests. British rainforests have been largely destroyed over many hundreds of years for timber, farming, transport networks and development. Now they cover less than 1% of Britain in areas such as western Scotland, the Lake District and western Wales. 

Creating and connecting wilder landscapes is fundamental for nature’s recovery, stopping climate change and adapting to its impacts. This includes achieving UK net-zero targets, reducing the threat from extreme heat, flood and drought, and protecting at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.  

Amanda Blanc, Aviva Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “The fact that Britain’s native rainforests will take carbon out of the Earth’s atmosphere is reason enough to restore them. But on top of that, they’re incredibly rare and beautiful. This vital work we are undertaking with The Wildlife Trusts will mean people can experience this rich natural habitat. Communities being able to access these sites will improve wellbeing and show how biodiversity fights and reduces the impacts of climate change. Aviva is proud to help reestablish temperate rainforests in the UK as part of our efforts to be a Net Zero company by 2040.” 

Find our more about The Wildlife Trusts' partnership with Aviva