A Source of Inspiration

Recently we attended  a party to celebrate the projects funded in 2017 by Sussex Lund, including the planting of a loose wildlife hedge at our roadside boundary. The Fund, set up in 2016,  aims to  'support small-scale practical projects that improve the ecology and landscape of the High Weald'. A list of projects funded (including Old Copse) can he found here. Guests at the party were an interesting mix  of people devoted to  the preservation and restoration of the High Weald landscape.  Statutory and voluntary organisations, also  private owners of  large and small pieces of Wealden landscape were well represented. We talked to many people with expertise in countryside ecology and conservation.  We are sure they will prove to be valuable contacts in our continuing work at Old Copse.  The celebration was at Wadhurst Park, whose restoration and management  is an inspiring example of what can be achieved. The Park covers 1,703 acres (689 hectares) of ancient Sussex landscape within the High Weald AONB. It was dark when we arrived at Wadhurst Park for the party, so we look forward to returning next year to explore the estate.

Underland Wood, Wadhurst Park Estate

Here is an extract from 'Wadhurst Park Estate History and Progress:'

 'When we came' (in the mid seventies)  ' almost all the fields were intensively managed pasture or ex-arable.The old coppice woods were unmanaged, and hedgerows had been grubbed out. We converted the fields to organic grassland; we created hay meadows;  fenced wood edges out of fields; re-established coppicing; and planted or naturally regenerated broadleaf woodlands. We developed wetlands; planted,laid and widened hedgerows; made glades and rides in our woods ; and opened up overshadowed ponds'  

'Since the beginning we have seen nature respond. Butterflies thrive in the floriferous meadows and along woodland rides and glades. Our amphibians are prospering in the chemical free environment , while small mammals flourish in the long grass and shrubby hedgerows. Between 2011 and 2016 , the number of bird species on the estate rose by 37%, from 52 to 71 . We have rare dingy and grizzled skipper butterflies , spotted flycatchers, nightingales, turtle doves, and lesser spotted woodpeckers. We also have ten species of bat , a thriving population of dormice and many other small mammals that support breeding raptors , such as kestrels and buzzards.'

 Old Copse is only a tiny fraction of the size of  Wadhurst Park, but our overall aim - to manage for conservation - is really no different at all, just on a much smaller scale. At Wadhurst Park they can make positive changes on a truly landscape scale, linking together and improving all of the varied habitats in the 1,700 acres. So I've been thinking about what difference the much smaller projects make - ours and the other 28 modest projects given money by the Sussex Lund: a hedge here, some laurel removal there, a new fence or an access path. We are all dotted about in the High Weald, reflecting that both land ownership and interests in conservation are fragmented. The RSPB can recreate hundreds of acres of heathland, as they did in West Sussex. The Woodland Trust can take over large swathes of ancient woodland - as when they purchased Brede High Woods in 2007. So can our smaller projects make any difference beyond our own boundaries? Do we make any difference on a wider landscape scale?

At Old Copse we've only got control over 30 acres. Yet Old Copse is important to a lot more people than just us: the fishermen, the dog walkers, the deer stalkers, all the people who live round about who are familiar with the wood or who just pass through. England, especially the South East,  is a small crowded country and there is always someone keeping an eye on what's going on. And they're all interested in what's happening at Old Copse. In a small and local way we can show that improving a wood for conservation is possible without being a big organisation or having loads of dosh. And I suppose that's the spirit of funding the other 28 small projects. They show the people connected to them that improvements are possible. At Old Copse we don't have control of 1,700 acres, so we have to work by example -showing what can be done on a small plot and trying to influence and encourage our neighbours to join us in our efforts.