The Big Chalk Nature Recovery Fund is providing £750,000 of capital funding to 21 innovative projects across southern England’s iconic chalk and limestone landscapes.
These partner-led initiatives are helping to restore and reconnect habitats and recover species at scale — from chalk streams to chalk and limestone grasslands, woodlands, and across farmland — helping deliver bigger, better, more joined-up and resilient landscapes for nature.
The projects will collectively create or restore 160 hectares of chalk and limestone grassland, enhance a further 570 hectares of connected wildlife-rich habitats, restore more than a kilometre of chalk streams, plant over 600 metres of new hedgerows, and create ideal conditions for a range of chalk and limestone wildlife. They are bringing communities, farmers, councils, and conservation groups together to deliver measurable improvements for wildlife, while benefiting people and climate resilience.
The Big Chalk programme and Nature Recovery Fund is funded through the Protected Landscapes Partnership, supported by Defra. The Fund enables partners to work across landscape and administrative boundaries, reaching the important places in-between protected landscapes and creating the conditions for nature to thrive. Together, the projects supported by the Fund will contribute directly to the goals of the Government’s recently updated Environmental Improvement Plan for England.
Nature Minister Mary Creagh said:
“Our chalk and limestone landscapes are one of Britain’s most nature rich habitats. Collaborative, targeted action, like the Big Chalk Nature Recovery Fund, is vital to restoring and protecting these precious ecosystems.
“This kind of cooperation between farmers, local communities, councils, and conservation groups shows exactly how partnership working can contribute to healthy landscapes and water courses, from flower-rich grasslands to iconic chalk streams.”
Across the 21 funded projects, partners are focusing on five key themes — restoring chalk streams, community-led action, nature-friendly farming, restoring and reconnecting chalk and limestone grasslands, and recovering the unique species of chalk and limestone habitats.
Restoring chalk streams – bringing streams back to life
Big Chalk is backing two projects which aim to restore and re-naturalise our globally important chalk streams, enhancing habitat quality and water flow while helping aquatic and riparian wildlife thrive in more resilient river catchments.
Richmond Green River Restoration
- London Borough of Sutton | River Wandle, Greater London
- Restoring 400 metres of urban chalk stream with riffles, pools, and natural banks to create habitat for fish, invertebrates, and water voles while reconnecting the floodplain.
Restoring Urban Chalk Streams in Cambridge
- Cambridge City Council | Cherry Hinton Brook, Coldham’s Common and Hobson’s Brook
- More than 820 metres of channel will be restored using berms, gravels, and brushwood shelves to enhance flow, bank stability, and habitat for aquatic plants and river flies.
Community led – people powering nature recovery
"Working with Big Chalk has given us the resources to restore habitats and involve our local community. We are using the funds to create a varied woodland edge, providing sunny and sheltered areas that allow scrub, grasses and flowers to thrive, benefiting wildlife. Through the Forest School, children and families can learn about nature first-hand, creating experiences that have real, lasting impact."
— Sunita Thakur, Director and Forest school leader at Out to the Woods CIC
Big Chalk is supporting three projects led by local community groups and powered by volunteers, combining hands-on habitat restoration, education, and engagement to create lasting benefits for people, wildlife, and local landscapes.
Woodland Habitat Creation – Woodland Scallops
- Out to the Woods CIC | Admiral Woods, Bicknor, Kent Downs National Landscape
- Creating woodland ride scallops and improving scrub habitat across the Forest School area to boost wildlife, supporting hands-on learning for children and families.
Essential Equipment for Habitat Restoration
- Chafford Gorges Nature Park | Thurrock, Essex
- Providing woodland management tools for rangers and volunteers to restore chalk grassland, helping safeguard Essex’s largest Man Orchid population.
Grassland Restoration on Mill Hill Slopes
- Friends of Old Shoreham | Mill Hill, South Downs National Park
- Purchasing tools and equipment needed for 60 volunteers to enhance chalk grassland for Chalk Hill Blue butterflies and support public access.
Nature-friendly farming – productive land supporting wildlife
“Bere Mill and Cowlease Renaturing Project covers the riverbank and river valley sides of the Upper River Test – one of England’s precious chalk streams. Big Chalk funding is allowing us to restore the chalk grasslands bordering the river, helping wildlife move, thrive, and recover at a scale that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.”
— Rupert Nabarro, Bere Mill and partners
Big Chalk is supporting four projects that embed sustainable, wildlife-friendly practices on farms, from planting hedgerows and pollinator corridors to seeding new grasslands and introducing conservation grazing, helping productive farmland support thriving nature.
Native Hedgerow and Tree Corridor Creation
- Hambledon Wineries Ltd | Hambledon Vineyard, South Downs National Park
- Planting 600 metres of mixed hedgerows and 85 trees to connect habitats, support wildlife, improve drainage, reduce soil erosion, and promote wildlife-friendly farming.
Bere Mill and Cowlease Renaturing Project
- Bere Mill, Freefolk Manor and New Barn Farm Trust | Upper Test Valley, Hampshire
- Restoring 24 hectares of chalk grassland, planting 800 trees and shrubs, and reinstating hedgerows to buffer the River Test, a rare chalk stream, enhance landscape connectivity, and boost birds, pollinators, and invertebrates.
Cattle Handling System for Conservation Grazing
- Wyken Farm Partnership | Wyken Estate, Suffolk
- Installing cattle hurdles, a crush, and NoFence collars to manage a conservation grazing herd across 16 hectares of meadow and wetland, creating ideal habitat for Lapwing, Snipe, invertebrates, and chalk grassland wildlife.
Lower Barton Farm Chalk Grassland Restoration
- Lower Barton Farm | South Wessex Downs, Dorset National Landscape
- Sowing 7 hectares with local wildflower seed to restore species-rich chalk grassland, supporting Duke of Burgundy and Marsh Fritillary butterflies, strengthening ecological connectivity, and embedding wildlife-friendly farming practices.
Restoring chalk and limestone grasslands – landscapes linked for wildlife
Big Chalk is supporting eight projects that restore and reconnect our precious chalk and limestone grasslands, creating continuous, species-rich habitat networks that help boost wildlife and ecological resilience to climate change across landscapes.
Grazing Gains at Dolebury Warren
- National Trust | Dolebury Warren SSSI, Mendip Hills National Landscape
- Installing a livestock handling pen and NoFence GPS collars to enable regenerative grazing across 90 hectares, enhancing species-rich chalk grassland, supporting pollinators and other wildlife, and safeguarding a Scheduled Monument.
Bignor Chalk Highways
- National Trust and tenant farmer| Bignor, South Downs National Park
- Establishing livestock infrastructure to support low-impact conservation grazing and restore chalk grassland, enhancing connectivity for wildlife, and resilience across a historic chalk landscape.
Stroud Landscape Project
- National Trust | Cotswolds National Landscape
- Purchasing specialist equipment to support conservation grazing, enabling the restoration of 54 hectares of limestone grassland and creation of a 22-hectare wildflower seed donor site across six land ownerships, strengthening ecological connectivity and supporting pollinators and invertebrates at a landscape scale.
Folly Farm Nature Recovery Project
- Avon Wildlife Trust | Folly Farm, Stowey, Somerset
- Enhancing 97 hectares of grassland and woodland by installing conservation grazing infrastructure, planting hedgerows, and improving scrub habitats to support pollinators, create wildlife corridors, and enhance species-rich meadows.
Flower Rich Futures: Seed Harvesting for Grassland Restoration
- Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust | Greystones Farm, Cotswolds National Landscape Purchasing seed-harvesting and ground-preparation equipment to restore and create species-rich limestone grasslands across multiple sites, improving ecological connectivity and enabling wildlife-friendly farming.
Managing Chalk Grassland in the North Chilterns
- Wildlife Trusts for Beds, Cambs and Northants | 11 sites, Chilterns National Landscape
- Enhancing conservation grazing and improving scrub habitats across more than 200 hectares of chalk grassland, boosting ecological connectivity, supporting priority wildlife, and reducing wildfire risk as part of the North Chilterns Landscape Partnership’s nature recovery work.
Chalk Grassland Management Equipment
- Bath and North East Somerset Council | Bath, West of England
- Purchasing specialist equipment to enhance 30 hectares of limestone grassland, restoring a priority habitat, increasing ecological connectivity, boosting pollinators and supporting community access.
Water Supply Installation for Conservation Grazing
- Kent County Council | Preston Hill Country Park, Kent Downs National Landscape
- Installing a permanent water supply to enable livestock grazing, improve scrub habitats, and restore species-rich chalk grassland.
Species recovery – focused action for chalk specialists
Big Chalk is supporting four projects that deliver targeted management for species that depend on chalk landscapes, boosting populations of rare butterflies, orchids, and ground-nesting birds.
Boosting Butser’s Butterflies
- Hampshire County Council | Butser Hill NNR, South Downs National Park
- Enhancing 64 hectares of chalk grassland through new grazing infrastructure, restoring habitat for orchids, Cowslip, Harebell, and chalk grassland butterflies and pollinators
Connecting the Heart of Wiltshire’s Chalk Grasslands
- Wiltshire Wildlife Trust | Wansdyke, North Wessex Downs National Landscape
- Reconnecting species-rich habitats across 15 sites, including 15 hectares of chalk grassland enhancement, to support Duke of Burgundy, Marsh Fritillary, Large Blue, and Wart-biter Bush Cricket, guided by Wiltshire Chalk Partnership research and delivered in collaboration with 10 farmers.
Protecting Rare Chalk Grassland at Ranscombe
- Plantlife | North Kent Woods and Downs NNR, Kent Downs National Landscape
- Enabling conservation grazing on 0.5 hectares, enhancing the grassland for populations of Man Orchid, Clustered Bellflower, and specialist chalk grassland pollinators.
Flowers and Machinery in the Porton Down to Salisbury Plain Corridor
- RSPB in partnership with Cholderton Estate | Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
- Creating and enhancing 22 hectares of chalk grassland to support chalk butterflies including Marsh Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Silver-spotted Skipper, and ground-nesting birds including Stone-curlew and Lapwing.
Looking ahead
These projects are laying the foundations for lasting, landscape-scale change across the chalk and limestone landscapes of southern England – helping build local capacity to deliver nature’s recovery. Targeted habitat creation and restoration and ecological corridor creation will help rare chalk and limestone wildlife recover and thrive, strengthening ecological networks and resilience to climate change.
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be sharing insights from each theme, highlighting our partners’ voices, and showcasing their on-the-ground activities — from re-naturalising chalk streams to creating species-rich grasslands and wildlife-friendly farmland.
By demonstrating replicable techniques, celebrating our partners’ successes and inspiring future applicants, the Big Chalk Nature Recovery Fund is showing how targeted investment can lead to measurable outcomes for nature. Together, we’re building bigger, better, and more joined-up chalk and limestone landscapes, benefiting wildlife, communities, and climate alike.
Follow our journey: check back here on our website and follow Big Chalk on LinkedIn to see the latest updates, partner stories, and on-the-ground restoration in action.
The Big Chalk programme and Nature Recovery Fund is funded through the Protected Landscapes Partnership, supported by Defra.