Project

Green Recovery Project at Wimpole

Cattle in the park in July at Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire — Cattle in the park in July at Wimpole Estate | © National Trust Images/Andrew Butler

As part of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, Wimpole has received £1.3m from Defra to develop its cultural landscape and deliver a wide range of benefits for nature, carbon and people. The Green Recovery Fund will help to create and restore habitats, support solutions to tackle climate change and connect people with nature.

What is the Green Recovery Project?

The Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Green Recovery Challenge Fund is a short-term, competitive fund to kickstart the process of nature recovery, started to address the climate crisis, and help create and retain thousands of green jobs.

The £40 million fund has been distributed to support projects that are ready to deliver and focus on nature restoration, nature-based solutions and connecting people with nature.

The 'Historic Landscapes' programme has been awarded £3.85 million by Defra as part of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund. The funding will kickstart a programme of work, worth over £4.7 million, to enhance nature and start to combat the effects of climate change in five of the most significant historic landscapes in the care of the National Trust, including Wimpole Estate.

Wimpole's work towards a green recovery

With £1.3 million in funding from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, we'll be creating new habitats, including 45 hectares of new woodland, 51 hectares of new wood pasture and 46 hectares of agroforestry, helping to conserve and restore nature.

Work as part of the Green Recovery Project will focus on three areas, nature conservation and restoration, tackling climate change and connecting people with nature.

The multi-use trail in woodland at Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire — The multi-use trail in woodland at Wimpole Estate | © National Trust Images/Catherine Hayburn

Conserving and restoring nature: We'll be creating new habitats and supporting nature restoration by creating areas of new woodland, wood pasture and scrub, including wetland areas and ponds. We'll also be developing an area of agroforestry, where tree planting and arable farming are combined. Agroforestry can help to support healthier soil quality and higher yields, but also provides a habitat for wildlife and contributes to more sustainable farming.
Tackling climate change: As a modern farm the Wimpole estate uses tractors, it has buildings that need heating and lighting, grain needs to be dried and its livestock emits methane. There are many opportunities to tackle climate change and work towards our goal of being carbon net-zero by 2030. To support climate change mitigation, we'll be doing a full carbon audit of the site and implementing recommendations to reduce our carbon footprint. We'll also be undertaking ecological surveys across the estate, supported by our volunteers.
Connecting people with nature: We'll be connecting our visitors and local communities with nature, designing and installing new visitor experiences to engage visitors with sustainable farming, wildlife and biodiversity. We'll be welcoming school and local community groups as well as hosting activities and events on sustainable food, farming and gardening.

Tackling climate change at Wimpole

Climate change is affecting almost every aspect of land management at Wimpole Estate and our work continues to save water, capture carbon, use renewable energy and create nature corridors. Watch this video to find out more.

Thanks to our funders

The Government's Green Recovery Challenge Fund, set up to support charities in England with projects to restore nature and tackle the climate crisis, is helping us do even more to protect nature. The fund is delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

The Gothic Tower on Johnson's Hill on the Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire

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This project is funded by the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund. The fund is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.

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