Tag: National Trust

Endangered water voles reintroduced at Woolacombe after major restoration project

Stuart Mitchell

Water voles are being reintroduced to North Devon after being declared functionally extinct from the area in 2000, following a major National Trust habitat restoration project at Woolacombe. Once widespread across the UK, water voles have declined sharply due to habitat loss, water pollution and the arrival of the American Mink. Since 2022, extensive work across the Combesgate catchment has restored habitats and natural processes to local waterways, creating the right conditions for their return. Their burrows create flowering habitats which support bugs, butterflies and other riverside species. This work…

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National Trust teams up with Youngwilders to put young people at the forefront of England’s nature recovery

Stuart Mitchell

The National Trust is joining forces with youth led non-profit, Youngwilders, this summer, to enable hundreds of young people to lead projects to restore nature across some of England’s most iconic landscapes. With many young people feeling anxious about the state of nature, Youngwilders was founded in 2022 by five young nature nerds intent on inspiring young people to get involved in tackling the nature and climate crisis head on. Together with the National Trust, who have been caring for the nation’s most beloved landscapes for more than 130 years,…

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New micropropagation lab is the ‘missing part of the picture’ for the National Trust’s pioneering Plant Conservation Centre

Stuart Mitchell

The National Trust has opened its first micropropagation lab, enabling the conservation charity to micropropagate its own plant material for the first time in its history. The lab is located at the Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre (PCC) in Devon, a purpose-built facility using specialist propagation skills to conserve rare and historically important plants for National Trust gardens. It has made headlines in recent years for its successful propagation of seeds gathered in the aftermath of the illegal felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in 2023. The project was made possible…

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Climate-resilient ‘Delos’ garden a century in the making officially opens at Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Stuart Mitchell

Work has finally been completed on ‘Delos’, the Greek-inspired garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, realising a planting scheme first envisioned by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson more than 90 years ago. The garden, created by National Trust staff in partnership with the well-known landscape designer Dan Pearson, is the culmination of a 15-year renewal project at the world renowned, Grade I-listed garden and is now fully open for visitors to enjoy. In 1935, Vita and Harold were so inspired by a visit to the Greek island…

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Still standing tall – chalking up a new chapter for the Cerne Abbas Giant

Stuart Mitchell

Re-chalking of the Cerne Abbas Giant – Britain’s largest and most iconic chalk hill figure – is now underway. The re-chalking happens once every decade, but this time it marks not just the renewal of the Giant himself, but the beginning of a bold new chapter for the historic Dorset landscape on which he lies. At 180 feet tall, the Cerne Abbas Giant dominates the chalk hillside above Cerne Abbas, where his outline is now being carefully restored using around 17 tonnes of fresh chalk by National Trust staff, volunteers…

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