Woodland Creation: Planting for the Future at West Dean
Students, staff and stakeholders recently joined our Ranger, Maddy Crews, to plant over 100 trees including, Small-leaved Lime, Pedunculate Oak, Sweet Chestnut, and Black Poplar on the estate—one step closer to our 2030 vision of sustainability.
Maddy said “It has been a pleasure to host these sessions and to share the sustainability vision of West Dean, helping to create a better understanding and appreciation of the place we call our home, workplace, and college. It was inspiring to see everyone’s enthusiasm and involvement. A big thank you to those who joined myself and Sean from MJO Forestry for the tree planting sessions.”
As part of our Woodland Creation Scheme, we’re repurposing 40% of arable land to create 1,000 hectares of priority habitat, planting over 500,000 trees to restore woodland, connect wildlife corridors, and enhance biodiversity.
These trees will provide essential shelter, nectar sources, and nesting sites while contributing to a resilient, thriving landscape in the South Downs National Park.
By working together to provide open areas of grazing and transform these sites into woodland pasture, we are creating irregular edges which, in turn, provide shelter and nectar sources for butterflies, nesting cover for birds, and essential windbreaks, whilst contributing to a resilient and thriving landscape in the South Downs National Park.
