RSPB has launched a campaign to restore chalk grassland to Wiltshire County, conserving the landscape surrounding the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, and nearby nature reserves and areas of outstanding natural beauty.
The campaign, which is aiming for the creation of the largest chalk downland network in Europe, calls for local farmers and landowners to help increase the amount of chalk grassland by applying to the Environmental Stewardship scheme, which provides money for environmentally-friendly farming.
If successful, RSPB’s vision would eventually see the landscape of Wiltshire’s existing patches of chalk grassland, including the land at military-owned Salisbury Plain and Porton Down, connected through corridors with RSPB nature reserves Normanton Down and Winterbourne Downs, the area around Stonehenge, and the Cranborne Chase, West Wiltshire Downs and North Wessex Downs beauty spots.
“If we can work together to extend downland across areas more accessible to the public, if the scattered fragments can be reconnected, then we will once again be able to look out on the stunning, wildlife-rich landscape our ancestors enjoyed,” said RSPB head of countryside conservation Sue Armstrong-Brown.
RSPB also plans to promote Wiltshire’s chalk grasslands as a place for people to visit and enjoy as part of the campaign.
“By developing its reputation as a scenic landscape rich in natural and man-made heritage, we believe that Wiltshire Chalk Country can become a favoured ecotourism destination, boosting the existing tourist economy and contributing directly to the ambitions of South West Tourism’s strategy for the region,” the organisation said in a statement.
“We believe that significantly increasing the areas of downland will benefit local communities and visitors by providing breathing places for people to exercise, explore and relax, with subsequent benefits for health and well-being,” RSPB said.
RSPB is currently carrying out one of the largest single programmes of chalk grassland creation in the UK at Wiltshire Downs.
