At close to 300 acres, Martlesham Wilds is a substantial new nature reserve – becoming part of our countywide network of wild landscapes that are vital havens for wildlife. Our vision for the nature reserve is to create a space in which wildlife can recover; to allow wilder habitats to return and become homes to species such as curlew, avocet and redshank, as well as reptiles, mammals and invertebrates.

Thanks to a generous grant of £340,453 from Biffa Award, we can begin the vital conservation works and habitat creation, which will help to boost nature’s recovery across the reserve. As thickets of hawthorn, blackthorn, gorse and wild rose establish on the dry sandy soils, they will support growing flocks of linnets and yellowhammers, and in time we hope nightingale will return. Small mammals will thrive in the dense undergrowth and insects will abound. Grass snakes, slow worms and common lizards will expand into the new areas of habitat and barn owls will come a regular sight at dusk. This ‘wilded’ land will become part of a connected landscape of ancient woodland, scrub, grassland and saltings, linked by the River Deben.

The funding from Biffa Award will support a range of works across the nature reserve including:

• The building of livestock shelters, fencing and troughs for the grazing animals that are being introduced to the reserve for conservation grazing,
   
• The purchase of surveying and monitoring equipment that will enable reserve staff and volunteers to carry out essential wildlife surveys as the nature recovers and reestablishes on the reserve,
   
• The creation of habitats across the reserve to kick-start “rewilding” of the site, including ponds, invertebrate banks, scrapes, lagoons, and foot drains,
   
• The installation of species surveying platforms to enable staff, volunteers, and visitors to observe wildlife and the landscape as it returns to nature
   

Rachel Maidment, Biffa Award Grants Manager, said:

“It is a privilege to have been able to play a part in the conservation works and habitat creation at Martlesham Wilds Nature Reserve. We awarded Suffolk Wildlife Trust £340,000 which funded the purchase of a range of habitat improvement works to support an abundance of wildlife. Through our Partnership Grants Scheme we are able to make significant grants to projects that introduce, conserve or protect our wildlife, paving the way for nature’s recovery on a large scale.”

Karen Bainbridge, Volunteer at Suffolk Wildlife Trust, who has led many guided walks of Martlesham Wilds, says:

"The news of funding for infrastructure work at Martlesham Wilds is fantastic. As an Engagement Volunteer, jointly leading Discovery Walks for members of the public, it means I will be passing on the message that Suffolk Wildlife Trust can now begin conservation and habitat work on the site.”

“The funding will provide the right tools to help nature begin to take over this very important riverside area of Suffolk. I sometimes feel sad and helpless when I see the destruction of habitat through over development or climate change - but there is hope when I hear about companies like Biffa Award who are willing to finance vital conservation and site protection work for newly created nature reserves. I feel so proud and excited to be involved in this project from the very beginning."

We has a vision for a wilder Suffolk – where nature is thriving and abundant, because everyone is doing more to help. To help achieve a wilder Suffolk, we are championing two collective targets in Suffolk that every sector of society needs to help achieve:

• To protect and restore 30% of Suffolk’s land and sea for nature recovery
   
• To inspire and support 1 in 4 people in Suffolk to take action for nature and climate

In securing Martlesham Wilds, and undergoing to vital works supported by Biffa Award, we take a big step towards achieving these ambitious targets for nature.