Rewilding project receives six-figure boost

A project by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to restore habitats and re-wild spaces for people and nature in part of the county has received a £330,000 boost.

The Call of the Wild project has been kickstarted thanks to funding from the National Highways Network for Nature Programme.

The wetlands and low grassland habitats along the River Trent and the species that depend on them are declining.

Now, the rewilding project led by the trust has been awarded the funding to create, restore and connect spaces for nature to encourage wildlife to thrive in the Trent Valley and beyond.

Kate Lemon, the trust’s rewilding delivery manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this significant funding from National Highways to enable us to move forward utilising natural processes on six sites.

“This project is a pilot scheme to help test the feasibility of moving away from management with man-made carbon emitting machinery to allowing natural processes to take place.

“Grazing remains the most natural and effective way of managing many habitats, shaping the land in ways that human interventions and machinery simply cannot replicate.”