Filling a vital gap in the Nature Recovery Network

Connecting nature rich areas is a key aspect of Trust’s work towards the Nature Recovery Network.

An extraordinary community bid, assembled in just three weeks and spearheaded by local residents, has secured the future of 37.5 acres of rare chalk grassland on the North Downs in Guildford, Surrey, linking up rare grassland habitat.

The fields, adjacent to the south-east edge of the town, are within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI). Home to nesting skylarks, chalk hill blue butterflies, bumblebees, wild thyme and orchids, the fields support a rich array of wildlife. With the help of Surrey Wildlife Trust, a new nature reserve will now be created on Pewley Down Fields to preserve the land in perpetuity for future generations.

Now Pewley Down Fields, alongside Pewley Down Nature Reserve and Rosamund Meadows, will form part of a huge swathe of 80 acres of rare grassland protected for nature where wildlife will flourish.