Nature grants announced in South and South East

A scheme to encourage sand lizards is one of those to receive funding

A range of environmental projects in the South and South East of England are to benefit from grants worth over £130,000.

A total of 13 community-led initiatives across Sussex and Hampshire will get funding from the South Downs National Park Trust (SDNPT) to help restore biodiversity.

Creating new havens for butterflies and barn owls, establishing new wetlands and saving the under-threat juniper tree are among the projects to benefit.

A SDNPT spokesperson said: "The time for action is now and that’s why these grants are so important."

The re-nature initiative is in its third year and aims to create 13,000 hectares of new habitat to help wildlife flourish in the national park.

Projects to get funding include:

• Landport Brooks in Lewes - £10,000 to help restore a chalk stream and create wetland features

• Western Downs in Hampshire – £43,700 to encourage wildflowers to help bee and butterfly populations

• Itford Farm at Beddingham - £25,000 to conserve and enhance a nature site

• Brook Farm, Midhurst – £6,400 for wetland restoration and creating new habitats for water voles

• Longmoor, near Petersfield – £7,700 for a cattle-grazing project to help maintain the heathland and encourage reptiles such as sand lizards

The renature initiative aims to create 13,000 hectares of new habitat to help wildlife flourish

Jan Knowlson, biodiversity officer for the national park, said: “We are doing a lot of work with major landowners around establishing new habitats, but there’s also an incredible amount of work taking place in the community on smaller-scale projects.

"Often these smaller projects struggle for funding and that’s where a renature grant can make a huge difference.”

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