North Chilterns Chalk | The Wildlife Trusts

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North Chilterns chalk (c) richard revels

creating new grasslands to join the fragments

The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire

Chalk and trees, hills and dales, in springtime meadows are clothed with flowers that attract insects, that attract birds...precious remnants that we can restore to a vibrant landscape.

This scheme is about creating an extensive landscape, based on the chalk geology, which is rich in wildlife and provides a variety of quiet recreational opportunities for local people.

It involves bringing all the remaining calcareous grassland sites into a favourable management regime, creating new grasslands to join fragments which are close together and encouraging wildlife-friendly practices across the landscape.

What's happening?

• The Pegsdon Hills reserve is being used by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to conduct an experiment that looks into the best way of recreating chalk grassland.

• Wild flower seeds are being collected from suitable established chalk grasslands and used to help re-establish grasslands elsewhere in the project area.

• We aim to establish and implement a conservation management plan in Houghton Regis Quarry. This huge disused chalk quarry right on the edge of the urban area contains marl lakes (lakes containing high levels of dissolved minerals) which are designated as an SSSI and have huge potential to create calcareous grassland.

Start: date: 1990s

Scheme area: 3,000 hectares

Trust reserves within the scheme

Totternhoe, Lancot Meadows, Landpark Wood, Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit, Blow's Downs, Sewell Cutting, Barton Gravel Pit

This scheme is helping species including...

Musk, man and frog orchids and important chalkland butterflies such as the Duke of Burgundy, small blue and chalk hill blue and chalk carpet moth.

Current threats to the landscape

A major consideration in the project area is managing visitor pressure so that people are able to experience nature without degrading or destroying it.

The project lies within the Milton Keynes-South Midlands Growth Area and land adjacent to it has been identified for major housing growth.

Partners

Natural England, National Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Local Authorities, local landowners.

For more information

Send an Email | Tel: 01954 713500 | North Chilterns Chalk

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