Restoring habitats, improving biodiversity and supporting sustainable agriculture has been at the heart of the Allerton Project’s objectives since its inception in 1992. By working alongside rather than against natural processes, farmers can create resilient and productive systems which support a diversity of species, improve soil health and deliver food simultaneously.
To explore and evidence this notion, the Allerton Project held a ‘Nurturing on farm Nature’ event in June, where we discussed how to make the most of biodiversity in soils, crops and habitat. Our farm tours are usually carried out on foot but to visit some of our newly enhanced and established habitat areas further afield, we travelled in style via tractor trailer.
Conservation laying is a fast, ‘rough and ready’ approach to hedge-laying. It isn’t as stock proof as a traditionally laid hedge, nor is it as aesthetically pleasing, but it can be a great way of rejuvenating a hedge and creating instant habitat for farmland birds.
Jobe Burnham
Conservation Officer
Allerton’s Head of Research, Jenny Bussell, kicked off the event by demonstrating how to measure soil health and biodiversity through Edapholog technology. Our long-standing Ecologist, John Szczur, led discussions on ecological succession during a wander down the disused Railway Line. He also emphasised that when it comes to restoring farmland ponds, there really is strength in numbers, with three or more improving diversity, connectivity and resilience. Our Conservation Officer, Jobe Burnham, introduced the group to the conservation laying he’s been implementing on the farm – a more ‘rough and ready’ approach to hedgerow management. Finally, Julie Ewald and Steve Moreby commented on the longest-running monitoring project in the world that measures the impact of changes in farming on fauna and flora – GWCT’s Sussex Study.
