Our 700-metre-long nature superhighway will be a boost for biodiversity

As Spring takes hold at Halnaker Hill Farm, the trees, shrubs and wildflowers we planted last year are all visibly beginning their journey to maturity. But look more closely, and you’ll see there are also some newer arrivals taking root – ones that will grow to have a significant impact on biodiversity in the decades to come.

These are the result of our only planting exercise to take place in 2026, which has added between two and three thousand shrubs, hedges and woodland to the 7km of native hedgerows and 20,000 trees we put into the ground in the run-up to the project’s launch in June last year.

When it matures, our new corridor will become a six-metre-wide, 700-metre-long nature superhighway running right through the middle of our farm, supporting the movement of the many species we want to encourage to make Halnaker their home.

Although it is early days for this new feature, Will Atkinson, our Agri-Environment Consultant and lead farmer on the project, is able to visualise how it will be transformed by nature as the seasons pass.

“Everything has established well so far,” says Will. “Right now it looks quite structured, with two rows of trees about six metres wide, but over time it will soften and spread out. We’ve also added thicker clumps of scrub along sections to help that natural shape develop. In time, it will become a really substantial strip of habitat.”

The new trees are arranged to form a thriving natural link between an established area we call the Guinea Fowl Wood and seven hectares of newly-planted woodland which is already starting to take shape.

Will adds: “We decided to make a giant connection and join it up, and then come back round on itself so it’s like a full loop. In 20 to 25 years’ time those fields will be almost enclosed by woodland.

“The idea is that it becomes a dense corridor for wildlife, while still allowing grazing in between. You’ll get mammals moving through, as well as birds and invertebrates. It all creates a much stronger ecological network across the farm.”

Our renaturing of Halnaker Hill Farm is one of the largest Biodiversity Net Gain schemes in the UK, creating more than 850 units, available now and registered with the South DownsNational Park Authority.

For more information, see our BNG page.