As well as helping to restore meadows here on the Durham coast, the £750k award from players of People’s Postcode Lottery will be used to fund several other National Trust conservation projects, along with continuing support for Heritage Open Days. They include:
- Creating lowland heath and wood pastures in Exmoor and Devon to give the High Brown Fritillary, the UK’s most endangered butterfly, a fighting chance for the future.
- Woodland management, pond creation, building bat boxes and installing infra-red cameras to monitor bat populations in the South Downs.
- Restoring grasslands and wildflower meadows along the North Pembrokeshire coast, helping birds including chough. You can read more here.
- Planting hornbeam, beech and field maple trees at Woodside Green near Hatfield Forest.
- Protecting and restoring chalk grasslands at the White Cliffs of Dover, following players’ support towards the acquisition of land immediately behind the cliff face in 2017.
Nationally, the National Trust is working with its tenants and partners to reverse the alarming decline in UK wildlife, aiming to restore 25,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats by 2025.
Anyone who would like to volunteer with our ranger team, to lend a hand with the meadow restoration project and other conservation work, can contact area ranger Mark Frain by email: mark.frain@nationaltrust.org.uk or phone: 07483 117657.