Since 2019, Avon Needs Trees has created new and ever-larger areas of woodland to benefit nature and people. In 2024, we embarked on an ambitious new project that takes our work beyond single sites, looking towards a far bigger scale.
Nature is all about connection. Connected wildlife corridors revive the habitats that allow species to thrive. All this becomes more impactful when you look across a region, with long term change in mind.
Landscape Recovery in the Lower Chew is a vision to support nature recovery, improve climate resilience and encourage more sustainable food production by linking up projects across the Chew Valley, at a landscape scale.
What does this mean in practice?
Avon Needs Trees is working with six landowners to develop plans that will restore nature, contribute to net zero targets and support rural livelihoods, all in a way that is financially sustainable.
We are currently working across 683ha in the Lower Chew Valley – the equivalent of 1,000 football pitches. By working collaboratively, we can ensure that our interventions are joined-up, and the result is greater than the sum of its parts.
What's exciting about Landscape Recovery?
Landscape Scale
Previous focus of subsidy schemes has been on individual landholdings. For the first time, we’re looking at a much greater scale of both nature interventions and funding opportunities.
Long-term funding
Landscape Recovery isn’t a short term, one off fix. Planning and funding is looking at over twenty years which is crucial for implementing meaningful, sustainable change.
Landowner led
Landowners have often been working their land for generations – they know it best. Each project is being developed with local knowledge as the starting point, supported by data and expertise from specialists.
Benefits to people & local heritage
LR is looking at access to nature for people, as well as restoring and improving access to local heritage features.
What might interventions look like?
We want to offer benefits for agricultural businesses, the environment and local communities for decades to come, by pioneering innovative initiatives in harmony with food production.
Just some examples of what these initiatives might look like:
- creating new woodlands to create rich wildlife habitat and sequester carbon
- protecting existing woodlands and the carbon stored in them
- enhancing wildlife corridors through connecting existing habitats and creating new ones
- planting species rich grasslands and improving soil health
- trialling innovative, climate-resilient food production methods
- improving river health and creating nature- rich wetland habitats that will store water during periods of high rainfall and prevent downstream flooding
- providing opportunities for people to access and connect with nature
- a heritage trail spanning the catchment
What is ANT’s role?
ANT has two roles in Landscape Recovery in the Lower Chew. Firstly as overall coordinator of the project, liaising with landowners to develop the plans that will be submitted to Defra and secondly, as a landowner ourselves. Both Lower Chew Forest and Great Avon Wood, which cover 216 hectares in total, are nested within the Landscape Recovery area.
How will we fund our Landscape Recovery plans?
Huge investment in nature is needed to support its recovery, and it has become clear that public investment alone is not enough. It is estimated that for the UK to be able to meet our nature targets over the next ten years, £56 billion is needed from the private sector to fill the nature finance gap.
One way that the project aims to make this happen is by adopting a blended finance approach – which draws on both public and private money. We are developing innovative ways to fund our interventions and get nature back on the right track. Some of these are models that we are actively piloting on existing ANT projects.
Are you a landowner interested in joining Landscape Recovery in the Lower Chew?
We are always on the lookout for landowners who are interested in partnering with us within our Landscape Recovery area – please see the map above.
If you own land in close proximity to our Landscape Recovery catchment area (see map above), please do get in touch with the team. We’d love to discuss opportunities further.
Our partners
We are extremely grateful to our project delivery partners at Defra and the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust.
Our Partnership Board also offer invaluable advisory support. This includes a wide range of organisations with relevant expertise including the West of England Combined Authority , Bath & North East Somerset Council, the University of Bristol, Chew Valley Plants Trees and the West of England Nature Partnership.
