Habitat Restoration Underway to Protect Rare Species on Bucklebury Common

From the early planning stages of the project, the public has been invited to learn more about the proposed plans by attending one of the 17 information sessions. These have ranged from formal sessions at the local village hall to informal walks to observe and understand the work on the common.

An additional two walks are planned for June 2025 (5th & 13th June) to show visitors the work that has been carried out and to learn more about the process from the Bucklebury Estate team.

The work is being led by an expert team at Bucklebury Estate, including Estate Manager Alasdair Jones-Perrott who has over 25 years’ experience in conservation management. The work is supported by consultant ecologist Alex Cruickshank from Sundew Ecology who also has over 25 years’ experience working in nature conservation, including numerous heathland restoration projects.

The work to restore wood pasture and enhance the existing heathland is part of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape Partnerships for Nature programme, which is funded by Defra’s Species Survival Fund.  The Estate is also privately funding some of the work and additional funding has been provided by Defra’s Access for All funds and Farming in Protected Landscapes funds.
Bucklebury Common also receives government funding through a Countryside Stewardship agreement which runs for ten years. This funding covers some of the large-scale habitat work to restore the heathland and create new gullies.

To restore the heathland areas on site, dense birch scrub has been removed to allow the heathland to recover. Heathlands are internationally rare habitats which are severely under threat from changes in land use and lack of management. As a result, the species which have evolved to live on heathlands are under threat. We are looking to encourage a greater diversity of heathland species such as nightjar, Dartford warbler, woodlark, silver-studded blue butterfly and adder as well as a wide range of lichens, mosses and fungi.
By creating open areas within the woodlands, we are allowing light and air to reach the woodland floor which will encourage the flora to flourish. This is turn will have a greater benefit in supporting more species of invertebrates such as butterflies and moths, birds and bats.

There are lots of elements to the project, but the majority of it is heathland restoration in which a monoculture of young birch is removed to expose the bare gravel on which the heathland flora will re-grow. In these areas, we want to disrupt the soils to expose the mineral layer and the potential heathland seedbank. In other areas, which are identified as future wood pasture, we are using less disruptive methods. Walkover ecological surveys were undertaken in all areas to identify sensitive features, and these were avoided when planning the work.

The majority of the work carried out on site has to take place outside of bird nesting season (March to September) to limit disturbing not only birds, but also reptiles, invertebrates and mammals which are more active during this time.

Nature conservation projects like this are often governed by the grant funding available. The Species Survival Fund requires capital works to be completed by the end of 2025. We are ensuring the work leads to the best possible outcomes for wildlife in the long term within these timing limitations.

Equally, the Countryside Stewardship Scheme expects its funded capital works to be completed within the first two years of the scheme, which when balanced with working outside nesting season, gives a short window to complete the work. However, the short-term impacts of carrying out the work will be greatly outweighed by the long-term benefits to the threatened heathland habitat and the rare species that depend on it.

For heathland restoration to be a success, the site needs free-draining, nutrient poor soils. In these areas, the soil that has built up because of years of neglect will have detrimental impacts on the heathland, therefore it’s essential that we remove as much of the soil as possible.
In other areas on the common, heavy machinery has been restricted to set routes to limit compaction across the habitat. The ruts left behind will be raked over and broken down, these areas will become more permeable with better drainage and aeration which will lead to a healthy plant community.
The heavy machinery used on the common have all had tracks which reduces ground pressure to minimise soil compaction and damage. In particularly wet areas, brash mats (created using the branches of trees) were used to bring an additional level of protection.

Bucklebury Common is fortunate to be home to one of the largest areas of lowland heath in the south of England. The extent of heathland has decreased by 85% since WWII, primarily due to the drastic changes in land use. Heathlands are a rare habitat which support a wide range of endemic species which cannot be found elsewhere. Heathlands are also vital as carbon sinks because, like trees, they can absorb and store vast quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. The restoration of heathland has been shown to emit small amounts of carbon, however as the heathland recovers, then the process of carbon capture begins. There is a growing need to restore unique habitats such as heathland, not only for their ecological importance but for their future role in carbon capture.

No, the primary aim has been to remove low quality trees to create high quality habitats. All the wood has been utilised which has meant that nothing has gone to waste. Material has been sold as biomass, firewood or to produce fence posts. The return on the timber sales is either less or equal to the cost to fell and process it.

A herd of ten young Belted Galloway heifers will be added to Bucklebury Common during September 2025. The cattle will be trained on NoFence, a GPS tracking system which has been extensively used on similar sites across the UK and Europe.
The cattle will each wear a collar around their neck when they are on site, these can be updated on an app to allow the Estate to create a virtual fence for the cattle. The cattle will be trained to respond to the audio cues when they are approaching the boundary edge. If they continue, then they will receive a small electric shock which will encourage them to turn around and return to the grazing area.
The herd will spend time in a training area off the common to learn the system and how it works, they will only be put out onto the common once we are confident they have fully learnt the system.
Visitors to the site will be able to scan a QR code at the main entrance points which will allow them to see a live map of where the cattle are, giving the public the freedom to either avoid the cattle or to find them.
Daily livestock checks will be carried out by the Bucklebury Estate ranger and a small group of trained volunteers.

The public rights of way will be restored to their previous state as the weather allows and newly surfaced footpaths will also be added. The new trails allow visitors to carry out a circular walk on site and have been designed to be accessible to a wide range of visitors. The two main car parks along Broad Lane have been resurfaced and extended to allow more cars to park safely.

There are six new interpretation boards which have been installed across the common to provide information to visitors.  These also include a map of the site with key features highlighted.

A key element to large scale habitat restoration works is the management in subsequent years.  Bucklebury Estate is fully committed to continuing to restore and enhance the habitats. With the capital works completed, any future work will be at a considerably smaller scale which will predominantly be undertaken by hand with small machines used where required.
The introduction of the cattle will help contribute to ensuring recently cleared habitats are kept clear from species encroachment. The temporary ranger position funded by The Species Survival Fund will be made permanent by Bucklebury Estate.