Heathland Connections: Managing Land for Adders

HEATHLAND CONNECTIONS

Managing land for Adders

Connecting Surrey’s Heathland

Lowland heathland in Surrey provides a key habitat for important bird, reptile and invertebrate species such as Nightingales, Adders and Grayling butterflies.

Our three-year Heathland Connections project will enhance, restore and connect habitats in the west of the Surrey Hills National Landscape, creating a better experience for people whilst protecting sensitive areas for wildlife.

Key habitats

Improving and better connecting these habitats in the wider landscape can increase the population and resilience of these rare species when faced with habitat loss, climate change and other pressures.

The project area and surrounding buffer zone includes nine of Surrey’s Biodiversity Opportunity Areas, designated because improving habitat here is likely to have the most impact on the connectivity and recovery of important species, including those which are the focus of this project.

1, 8, 13, 14, 18, 21

Why Adders?

• Adders are one of three snake species native to the UK and the only venomous one. Adults have a thick body, approximately 60 cm long with a continuous ‘zigzag’ stripe along their backs. This is set against a grey-white background in males and copper-brown one in females and young specimens. Their colouring and tendency to hide from predators means they are rarely seen.

• There has been an ongoing decline in numbers, especially in central England. Across the UK Adders are legally protected from intentional killing, injury, or trade.

• The decline is due to the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat, as well as pressure from human activities such as dog walking, biking and predation by cats and birds.

• The Adder is found throughout the UK, most often on heaths, moors and coastal areas. Historically widespread, it now has a patchy distribution across England, the Southern heathlands. Chalk downlands hold relatively high populations; however even here it is thought to only occupy around 30% of potentially suitable habitats.

• In the early 2000’s Surrey was one of the counties with the widest recorded distribution of Adders. In areas where Adder numbers are monitored over half show a decline, fewer have stable populations and only two areas in the

Thames Basin Heaths show an increase. The Heathland Connections project area contains four of the Wealden Greensands Biodiversity Opportunity Areas where Adder populations appear to be largely stable.

1, 8, 14, 15, 22

Requirements

• Dry, open, sunny areas in which to bask (south facing is particularly favoured) with adjacent mature vegetation to provide cover from predators such as crows, pheasants and birds of prey. These types of habitat need to be sufficiently large, available throughout the year, in good condition and well connected to support populations (Adders usually only disperse over small distances).

• Suitable sites to hibernate over winter. Adders use mammal burrows or crevices under the roots of bushes or small trees often on south-facing banks and slopes or the southern edge of scrub or woodland. They can also use man-made features such as boundary banks, hedges and log piles. Bracken, gorse and Bramble also provide cover for emerging Adders. Adders often return to the same communal hibernacula year after year.

• Sufficient numbers of small rodents such as mice and voles as well as lizards, which are their main food sources, although they only eat six to ten times a year.

Life cycle

Incubation

Live

Hibernation

Basking

Mowing

Scrub/tree cutting

Stump treatment

Manage bracken

Hand pulling

Hand whipping

Hand cutting

Mechanical cutting

Suitable livestock

Rolling/bruising

Tilling/ploughing In accordance with good agricultural practice

How you can help

• Create and maintain features such as banks and hedgerows that have a warm and sunny aspect.

• Create areas with a diverse vegetation structure with transitional zones between open land and scrub or trees. For example, sunny woodland edges, grassland-scrub interfaces and grassland of varying sward heights.

• Provide corridors of habitat that can link up larger areas that are suitable for Adders.

Timing habitat management activities to minimise disturbance and damage (see the calendar above).

This can include:

• Retain key areas with little or no management input, especially around hibernacula.

• Cut/mow grassland and scrub in the winter, avoiding the time when Adders are active between February/March and October. Rotate the areas that are cut to preserve constant but varied vegetation structure and height of cover.

• Avoid (or rotate) the use of mechanised land treatments such as bracken removal in the summer.

• Avoid any management of areas close to hibernacula, particularly in the spring when Adders are emerging and using hand cutting at other times.

• Avoid controlled burning on lowland heath.

• Manage bracken if required, in accordance with the latest guidance, using one of a range of techniques indicated in the calendar above. In some areas there will be species of nature conservation value that could be harmed by inappropriate bracken treatment.

• Grazing may be useful in some areas with appropriate timing, intensity and species to encourage limited areas of dense scrub between short vegetation. Care should be taken to avoid overgrazing, which may result in habitat loss.

• Cut material from tree and scrub clearance can be stacked and retained in situ, creating brash and log piles in sunny places within existing vegetation.

In forestry management:

• After clear-felling or thinning sites, carry out invasive ground works early, before reptiles recolonise the area.

• Maintain wide rides, or open borders on the sunny side of the rides.

Get in touch

surreywildlifetrust.org/heathland-connections nbs@surreywt.org.uk

Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography

Adders thrive in rough, tussocky grasslands with a mix of open areas for basking and cover for shelter. You can leave some areas of your fields to grow wild or implement rotational grazing to encourage this habitat.

Scrub provides Adders with dense, sheltered areas for hiding from predators and basking, essential for thermoregulation. It also offers a rich habitat for prey species, supporting a healthy food supply for Adders.

Adders are shy animals and will avoid humans and dogs where they can. To minimie disturbing Adders, maintain undisturbed, dense vegetation and limit foot traffic in known Adder habitats, especially known hibernaculums and during active months.

Hedgerows provide Adders with vital cover, offering shelter from predators and harsh weather. The dense vegetation also creates ideal hunting grounds, with a variety of small mammals, amphibians and insects that make up the Adder’s diet. Additionally, hedgerows act as safe corridors, allowing Adders to move between different habitats without exposing themselves to danger.

Philip Precey

David Longshaw

These chemicals can harm Adders directly or reduce their prey base. By reducing pesticide and herbicide use, you can help protect the health of Adders and the insects and small mammals they rely on for food.

Adders need sunny spots to regulate their body temperature. You can leave patches of open ground, such as unmown areas, or clear small areas of dense vegetation to provide basking sites.

Create safe crossings for Adders

When there are roads or other barriers on your land, you can create safe crossings for Adders, such as tunnels or fencing to direct them to safer areas, to reduce roadkill risks.

Deadwood, stone piles, or piles of leaves and grass clippings provide ideal hiding spots and basking sites for Adders. You can leave piles of these materials in suitable locations on their land.

Stewardship options that support Adder habitat

Code Action

SFI offer from summer 2024 – usually 3-year agreements 4, 5

Boundary Features - can provide routes for Adder to move between habitat areas and hibernation sites if they have variety of vegetation structure

CHRW1 Assess and record hedgerow condition

Hedge can be:

Newly planted, laid or coppiced

· Woody growth on top of an earth or stone-faced bank

CHRW2 Manage hedgerows

Hedge can be as for CHRW1

£5 per 100 m For one side

£13 per 100m (for one side)

· Understand condition of hedgerows Plan management to improve condition

3 years · Produce a written hedgerow condition assessment record

BND2 Maintain earth banks or stonefaced hedge banks

£11 per 100m For one side

Provide:

· Habitat for wildlife

· Pollen, nectar and berries for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects

Help manage livestock

Provide habitats for lichens, mosses, ferns and wildlife

As above Cut in autumn / winter

· Newly planted, lightly trim incrementally

Fully established, use one of: cut incrementally or in rotation 1/3 (1/2) hedges every 3 (2) years or coppice / lay in rotation

As above Note: creation and restoration grants for earth banks in Countryside Stewardship BD 3&4 (see below)

Buffer strips - must be placed alongside an existing landscape or heritage feature and thus provide a corridor for movement and potential sites for hibernacula

CAHL4 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on arable and horticultural land

£515 Per hectare

CIGL3 4m to 12m grass buffer strip on improved grassland

Allow natural regeneration Or sow the area

BFS1 12m to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land

BFS6 6m to 12m habitat strip next to watercourses

Allow natural regeneration Or plant native riparian species

£235 Per hectare

Provide an intact grass sward throughout the year

Without tracks and compacted areas

In order to:

Provide habitat for wildlife

Prevent pollutants in surface run off

· Support integrated pest management (IPM)

As for CHL4

£707 per hectare As for CHL4 Plus – protect water courses

£742 per hectare

Create a mosaic of grassland vegetation and native tree and scrub species, with an open canopy

Without livestock, tracks and compacted areas

In order to:

Provide habitats and food for wildlife

Form links between other habitats

· Reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss

Increase water filtration

Slow down water runoff

· Provide shade to the watercourse

3 years In late summer cut strip next to the edge of the strip to provide shorter vegetation

Staggered cutting of different strips across the season, retain/ create areas of tussocky grass for reptiles

· Weed control

As above

Cutting or livestock grazing to create range of sward height to retain/create areas of tussocky grass for reptiles Weed control

As above

5 years Manage the habitat strip in stages to minimise disturbance and create varied habitat

Including:

Cutting woody growth to create and maintain an open canopy and shade along the bank

Controlling the spread of injurious weeds, and invasive non-native species

Removing cut material to control woody growth or the spread of injurious weeds etc

Leaving standing and fallen deadwood

Leaving mature and veteran trees in place

Farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land – create Adder habitat amongst inhospitable arable land

CAHL3 Grassy field corners or blocks

· Natural regeneration Or sow the area

Create habitat network with several smaller areas

AHW3 Beetle banks

Create raised earth ridge

Sow mixture of fine-leaved and tussock forming grasses

AHW12 Manage woodland edges on arable land (up to 6 m wide)

£590 Per hectare

£764 per hectare

Has an intact grass sward throughout the year, without tracks and compacted areas

· Develop tussocky grasses In order to:

Provide year-round habitat for a range of wildlife

· Support IPM

Provide nesting and foraging habitats for ground-nesting birds, small mammals, reptiles and insects

Help slow down or stop soil erosion

Support IPM

£428 per hectare

· Create an uncultivated, naturally regenerated strip of scrub and grass mosaic between arable land and woodland

· Provide woodland edge habitat for birds, invertebrates, small mammals, reptiles

3 years As per CIGL3

As above

As above

Farmland wildlife and habitats on grassland – increase structural variety of plants to create suitable habitat

CIGL1 Take grassland field corners or blocks out of management

Can be existing grassy field corners

GRH6 Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland (endorsed by NE advisor)

Including lowland:

Calcareous grassland

Dry acid grassland Meadows

SCR1 Create scrub and open habitat mosaics

Use on land with less than 10% scrub cover

SSSI NOT eligible

Natural regeneration Or planting variety native scrub species (10% - 60% of area)

SCR2 Manage scrub and open habitat mosaics

£333 Per hectare

Allow development of tussocky grass in order to:

Provide year-round habitat for a range of wildlife

Support IPM

£646 Per hectare

£588 Per hectare per year

Maintain and improve the biodiversity of priority habitat grassland

Increase the number and frequency of important plant species

Benefit priority species, such as bumblebees, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, birds or bats

Scrub cover managed to maintain habitat mosaic with variety of species, heights, and structure Can include growing trees and deadwood

In order to:

Provide food and habitats for variety of species

· Provide pollen and nectar sources for insects, such as bees and butterflies

Improve the quality of woodland edges and transitions between other habitats

· Protect soils and watercourses by reducing soil erosion

£350 Per hectare per year As per SCR1

3 years No cutting OR Grazing Control weeds if necessary Capital grants for fencing if required

5 years Graze with livestock and/or cut

· Ensure intact grass sward throughout the year Minimise bare ground Manage scrub

5 years Control herbivores

· Leave standing and fallen deadwood

Leave mature and veteran trees

3 years As per SCR1

Wood Pasture

WOD1

From Manage wood pasture and parkland (endorsed)

£212 per hectare per year

Integrated pest management

CIPM4 No use of insecticide on arable crops and permanent crops

£45 Per hectare per year

Maintenance of yearround wood pasture or parkland to provide trees at each life stage to become future veteran trees

Grassland or heathland habitat within wood pasture

A variety of sward heights Wildflowers, sedges and grasses allowed to flower and set seed in the spring/ summer with some left undisturbed during autumn/winter

Appropriate scrub cover Habitat which offers sources of food and shelter for wildlife, such as invertebrates and birds

That no plant protection products containing insecticide are applied on an arable crop or permanent crops

The purpose of this is to:

· Support an integrated pest management approach by managing crop pests in a more sustainable way Improve water and air quality

· Increase biodiversity

Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier actions - Summer 2025 3, 6

3 years Manage sward:

· By grazing and/or cutting

· Intact year-round without compacted areas or poaching

Minimise bare ground Manage scrub Manage Trees:

Maintain existing and newly planted specimens

· Prevent harm from machinery, livestock, wild animals and pests

Leave deadwood unless poses a safety risk

3 years · Do not apply any plant protection products containing insecticide including: Insecticide seed dressings

· Nematicides and acaricide

You can apply herbicides, fungicides or plant growth regulators

Note: Many Higher Tier CS actions require specialist advice to be sought from Natural England or the Forestry Commission prior to commencing the application process

Boundary Features

CHRW4 (same as SFI CHRW2)

Manage hedgerows

See capital grants

BN7: Hedgerow gapping up

BN11: Planting new hedges

£13 per 100m (for one side)

Provide: Habitat for wildlife Pollen, nectar and berries for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects

Grassland

CGS21 Manage grassland for target habitats, species or features

Not on priority habitat

Only Grassland:

· With moderate /low potential to restore to priority habitat

Is associated with species / feature that would benefit

£528 Per hectare

Maintain or increase the quantity of the targeted habitat, species or features

Other priority species will also benefit

5 years · Manage to agreed width and height

You may also need to:

· Agree hedgerow cutting frequency with NE

Manage 2m strip from centre of hedge as agreed with NE

5 years

Maintain/increase the targeted feature

· Maintain range of plant heights

Manage by grazing or cutting

· Maintain a continuous cover

Little or no manure, fertiliser, pesticide

Maintain level of scrub, rushes

· Control undesirable plants

Lowland Heath

CLH1 Management of lowland heathland

Only lowland heathland priority habitat

· Can include areas of acid grassland

CLH2 Restoration of forestry and woodland to lowland heathland:

· Only on lowland heathland that has established tree cover over most of its area

£412 Per hectare

£311 Per hectare

Create a diverse mosaic of vegetation Including:

· Undisturbed bare ground Vegetation in all stages of its life cycle

Open water Scrub

Re-establish lowland heathland on forested land or land recently (since 1900) colonised by woodland

Colonisation by locally characteristic plant communities and species

10 years

CLH3 Creation of heathland from arable or improved grassland: If soil nutrient levels are low

Woodland and Trees

CWD1 Woodland creation maintenance:

Maintain woodland created under a Woodland Creation Grant agreement

£711 Per hectare

· Create lowland heath which includes mosaics with lowland acid grassland, on sites that have lost their heathland seed bank

Features that can be included: Bare ground

· Open water

· Scrub

£400 per ha

CWD2

Woodland Improvement:

· Based on a pre-existing Woodland Management Plan approved by the Forestry Commission

£127 per ha

Create woodland that:

Supports wildlife, by linking habitats together or providing a protective buffer between them Reduces the risk of floods Improves water quality and prevents soil erosion Is resilient and can adapt to climate change

Woodland is brought into sustainable management in line with the UK Forestry Standard

· Improve the biodiversity of woodland and/or make it more resilient to climate change

One priority objective: Enhance priority habitats/species Restore plantations on ancient woodland sites

Enhance resilience to climate change through continuous cover forestry (CCF)

Create a range of heather ages /structure through (grazing and/or cutting)

Provide bare ground cover (1%-10%)

Maintain tree / scrub <15%

· Maintain a range of gorse

· Manage bracken <10% in dense canopy

10 years Remove trees / scrub, organic litter > 5cm deep

· Graze / cut heathland vegetation

Hydrological restoration, if needed

· Create / maintain 1% - 10% bare ground

Maintain tree / scrub < 15%

Maintain range of gorse Manage bracken < 10%

10 years · Hydrological restoration if necessary

Encourage colonisation using heather seed / cuttings

· Graze / cut colonising heathland at set times

Manage undesirable species <10% area

15 years Keep new trees free from competing vegetation

· Replace dead trees

· Maintain areas of open space

10 years Can include: Manage successional scrub through cyclical cutting

· Re-coppicing

Thin or selectively fell trees

Create and/or manage permanent open space and access rides

· Manage ride edges by cyclical cutting

CWD20 Supplement Supplements to manage 3 zone rides £197 per ha

Maintain a diverse ride structure

Provide habitat corridors for wildlife

As per base action

Wood pasture

CWD20

Creation of lowland wood pasture

CWD21

CWD22 (also SFI 2025 WOD1)

Restore wood pasture and parkland

£544 per ha To create:

Open grown scrub covering 10% to 20% area

· Flowering trees and scrub provide food and nectar sources

Enhanced grassland sward or heathland, grazed by traditional cattle

· Undisturbed standing and fallen deadwood providing habitats for invertebrates

£371 per ha As per WD6

Manage wood pasture and parkland £212 per ha

Capital Grants 2024 6,16

FM2

Major preparatory works for priority habitats (creation and restoration) and priority species

Where a priority species is known to be present, or occurs locally and the work is likely to lead to its colonisation

BN3 Earth bank creation

Up to 100% of actual costs

BN4 Earth bank restoration

BN7

Hedgerow gapping up

BN11 Planting new hedges

£20.59/m Conserve and enhance landscape character

Provide a valuable wildlife habitat

£10.54/m As per BN3

£17.22 per m

£22.97 per m

To create continuous lines of hedge in lines of shrubs: Over 20 m long

· Less than 5 m wide at the base

· At least 80% native plants

To create new lengths of hedgerow planted with native species where: Reinstates historic hedges Links or extends existing hedgerows

Will help reduce soil erosion and run off or

· Close to slurry or digestive stores to capture ammonia emissions

Forestry Commission - Likely to transition into part of ELMs in the future

Woodland Creation Planning Grant 11

Minimum 5 hectares

£1,500 (Stage 1)

£150 per hectare (less stage 1 payment)

Overall cap of £30,500 per project

10 years Can include:

Grazing animals or cut to maintain areas of short turf interspersed with taller tussocks

Keep deadwood in or around standing trees

Protect trees to prevent damage from livestock and wild animals

Plant additional trees or encourage regeneration trees and scrub

10 years As per WD6

Can be used to fund items such as:

Plug plants

Native British seed mixes

· Hiring and maintaining specialist equipment

On lowland heath:

· Clearing bracken litter

Preparing ground Spreading heather cuttings/seeds

Creating bare ground

NA Note: Only on sites of former earth banks, evidenced by historic maps, or records showing typical of location or landscape

NA Note: Only on lengths of earth bank that need to be rebuilt to their original height

Maintenance requirements include: Carry out work between 1 November and 31 March

· Prevent livestock and grazing animals from damaging the hedge

Maintenance requirements include: Carry out work between 1 November and 31 March Trim newly planted hedge in at least the first 2 years

· Prevent livestock and grazing animals from damaging the hedge

Support landowners, land managers and public bodies to design a new woodland compliant with UK Forestry Standard

Stage 1 desk-based feasibility exercise

Stage 2 plan for actual wood creation if feasible

England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) 10

Minimum 1 hectare

Apply by 30 June to secure agreement for the following planting season

Types of payment available:

1. Support for capital items / activities to establish new woodland, covering 100% of national average costs (up to a cap of £10,200 per hectare)

2. 15 years of annual maintenance payments to help establish the young trees - £400 per hectare

3. Contribution towards cost of installing infrastructure to enable management or recreational access

4. Optional Additional Contributions for delivering public benefits (see right)

5. Low sensitivity land payment when planting in areas less suitable for food production - £1,100 per hectare

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)

15 years

Re-claiming at years 6 and 11

Support landowners, land managers and public bodies to create new woodland, including through natural colonisation

Additional Contributions include:

Nature recovery: up to £3,300 per hectare

Flood risk management: £1,000 per hectare

Water quality: £500 per hectare for · Riparian buffers: £2,500 per hectare for woodlands along riverbanks

Close to settlements: up to £600 per hectare

Recreational access: up to £3,700 per hectare

Since February 2024, all developments granted planning permission in England are legally required to deliver a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain

If BNG cannot be achieved on a development site, there are opportunities to deliver it elsewhere. Landowners may be able to gain income for delivering this off-site BNG by creating or improving habitat on their land and selling BNG credits to developers

Bibliography

General

1. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), 2016. Adder. [Online]. Available at: https://www.arc-trust.org/Adder [Accessed: 29 August 2024].

2. Ball, S., Hand, N., Willman, F., Durrant, C., Uller, T., Claus, K., Mergeay, J., Bauwens, D., Garner, T.W.J., 2020. Genetic and demographic vulnerability of Adder populations: Results of a genetic study in mainland Britain. PLOS ONE 15. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231809

3. Edgar, P., Foster, J. and Baker, J. (2010). Reptile Habitat Management. Handbook. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bournemouth.

4. Fera, 2024. Bracken Management UK Best Practice Guidance.

5. Gardner, E., Julian, A., Monk, C., Baker, J., 2020. Make the Adder Count: population trends from a citizen science survey of UK Adders. Herpetological Journal 29, 57–70.

6. Gleed-Owen, C and Langham, S. 2012. The Adder Status Project - A conservation condition assessment of the Adder (Vipera berus) in England, with recommendations for future monitoring and conservation policy. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bournemouth.

7. Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT), 2024. Heathland Connections [Online]. Available at: https://surreyhills.org/heathland-connections/ [Accessed: 29 August 2024].

8. Waite, M. 2019. Biodiversity Opportunity Areas: The basis for realising Surrey’s ecological network. Surrey Nature Partnership.

9. Waite, M (2017); The State of Surrey’s Nature (Surrey Nature Partnership).

10. Wright, D and Baker, J. 2011. Selecting Environmental Stewardship Options to Benefit Reptiles. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Bournemouth.

11. ZSL, 2024. Adder [Online]. Available at: https://www.zsl.org/what-we-do/ species/Adder [Accessed: 29 August 2024].

12. DEFRA and RPA, 2024. SFI scheme information: expanded offer for 2024 (December 24) [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offerfor-2024/sfi-scheme-information-expanded-offer-for-2024 [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

13. DEFRA and RPA, 2024. Expanded SFI offer (SFI24 offer) – endorsed actions. [Online]. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ media/67571a23f96f5424a4b87805/SFI24-endorsed-actions-v1.pdf [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

For more information contact the Surrey Wildlife Trust Nature-based Solutions team at nbs@surreywt.org.uk

14. DEFRA and RPA, 2024. Find funding for land or farms [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms [Accessed: 31 August 2024].

15. DEFRA and RPA, 2025. Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Handbook for the SFI 2023 offer (v9 Jan 2025).

16. RPA, 2024. Applicant’s guide: Capital Grants 2024. [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-grants2024/3451c5f9-431c-4530-bb47-40ac2a0abe8f [Accessed : 29 January 2025].

Countryside Stewardship

17. DEFRA and RPA, 2024. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier: preview guidance (December 2024). [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-getready-to-apply/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-preview-guidance [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

18. DEFRA and RPA, 2024. Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier actions (December 2024). [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-getready-to-apply/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-actions#bufferstrips [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

19. DEFRA and RPA, 2023. Revenue options payment rate changes from 1 January 2023 (May 23). [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/revenue-payment-rates-from-january-2023countryside-stewardship/revenue-options-payment-rate-changes-from1-january-2023 [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

20. RPA and Natural England, 2024. Countryside Stewardship grant finder [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/countryside-stewardshipgrants [Accessed: 29 January 2025].

Woodland Creation

21. Forestry Commission, 2024. Woodland Creation Planning Grant Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/woodland-creationplanning-grant [Accessed: 29 August 2024].

22. Forestry Commission, 2024. England Woodland Creation Offer [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/england-woodlandcreation-offer [Accessed: 29 August 2024].

23. Forestry England, 2024. Forestry England Woodland Partnership Programme Online]. Available at: https://www.forestryengland.uk/ woodland-partnership-programme [Accessed: 28 August 2024].

24. Forestry Commission, 2024. Creating New Woodland: The England Woodland Creation Offer.

One of twelve landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects being delivered collaboratively across England, Heathland Connections is a Natural England funded, partnership-led initiative, which will deliver habitat restoration by supporting landowners to effectively manage adjoining areas of remnant heathland under their care.

This project offers private and public sector landowners and managers of all sizes - from large to small scale farmers, woodland and forestry managers, and businesses such as golf clubs - a range of support to help them work together for nature.

Get in touch

If you are a landowner and/or land manager and would like to find out more, please register your interest at surreywildlifetrust.org/heathland-connections or contact the Surrey Wildlife Trust Nature-based Solutions team at nbs@surreywt.org.uk

The Information in this leaflet is up to date as of January 2025

Please check for the most recent updates on stewardship options at gov.uk:

1. For SFI - Find funding for land or farms - gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms

2. For Countryside Stewardship - gov.uk/countryside-stewardship-grants

Heathland Connections is in partnership with: