Nature enhancement is a key part of our ongoing work to conserve and enhance the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape. 

Here is a round-up from all of our nature enhancement projects and volunteer work parties for December 2024 & January 2025.

For more information about any of our nature enhancement work, you can email [email protected].

1 Suffolk Wader Strategy Update

All habitat enhancements are now completed for the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme funded project entitled the Suffolk Wader Strategy: Enhancing Habitats for Redshank, Lapwing and Avocet & Monitoring their Population Sizes.

£70,500 of FiPL and match funding has paid for the following project activities (some of it ongoing)

• Purchase and sharing of two rotavators, a flail mower, a quicke bucket for a tractor’s fore-end loader and 3,000m of electric fence for habitat creation purposes.  
• 6,000m of footdrain habitat that will provide muddy fringes for wader chicks. 
• Pond (restoration), scrape and wader breeding island creation. 
• Purchase and sharing of equipment to assist with the monitoring of wader populations on Suffolk Wader Strategy sites (x20 trail cameras, x1 night vision monocular, x1 drone, x10 pairs of binoculars, x5 telescopes & tripods)

2 Hedge Planting at Gallows Field – Dunwich

The volunteers helped to plant a hedge in partnership with Dunwich Parish Council at Gallows Field in Dunwich. It was a tremendous effort on a cold but lovely sunny day.

It was a very diverse mix of native saplings that were planted – up to 20 different species. Fortunately,  a man with a mini digger was available to clear vegetation and dig a trench which sped up the planting considerably!

3 Deer Fence Erection & Dead Hedging

Another great effort from our merry band of volunteers up at Sizewell. We helped Freedom staff to put up some chestnut paling deer fencing and create some dead hedging habitat alongside it. The deer fencing will help to protect newly planted trees.

4 Hedge sapling delivery at Martlesham Wilds

1km of hedgerow saplings were delivered and heeled in at Suffolk Wildlife Trust Martlesham Wilds Nature Reserve. These hedge saplings will be used to create new hedges and gap up existing ones in and around the new nature reserve. This will help to better connect the wildlife rich habitats within and to fragments of woodland in the adjoining land outside.

A series of volunteer work parties is being held over January and February to help get the saplings planted. The saplings are a mixed range of native species including hawthorn, field maple, hornbeam, hazel, spindle, crab apple and bird cherry which will provide an array of pollen, nectar and fruits to benefit numerous species of insects, birds and mammals.

5 Upcoming Tasks

07.02.25​	Martlesham Wilds​	Hedge planting​
14.02.25​	Alphamstone​	Hedge planting​
21.02.25​	Martlesham Wilds​	Hedge planting​
28.02.25​	Giffords Hall – Higham​	Giant Hogweed Control​
07.03.25​	Cranes Hill Barn – Shotley​	Stag Beetle Pyramid Building​
14.03.25​​	Giffords Hall – Higham​​​	Giant Hogweed Control​​
21.03.25​	Coast & Heaths TBC​	TBC​
28.03.25​	Giffords Hall – Higham​​	Giant Hogweed Control​​