Helping our Brilliant Bats

We are pleased to welcome Ryan Ellis as our Landscape Advisor, who has joined the Weald to Waves corridor to develop of network and to find solutions for food production and habitat management that support nature recovery.

Mob grazing is a technique used by an increasing number of farmers, enabling livestock farming to boost productivity and biodiversity by mimicking natural grazing behaviours.

Lifelines works with farmers, landowners, and communities across the UK to support them in planting woodland and hedgerows on their land with the help of different faith & non-faith groups from across the country.

Hedgerows not only provide individual benefits on the lands where they exist but also serve as vital ecological corridors across landscapes, connecting biodiverse areas in a linear fashion. In Sussex, they are integral components of the larger Weald to Waves corridor, creating essential links between habitats and allowing species to move and disperse across a fragmented landscape. By enhancing hedgerow connectivity, we bolster the resilience and continuity of local ecosystems.

Have you seen the live webcam from the White Stork Project? Tune in to see what is happening on one of the colony’s nests.

Pollinating insects play an essential role in maintaining the health of our ecosystems. Here’s how you can contribute to supporting these vital members of our ecological community by developing habitats that attract and sustain them.

Have you seen your first swift this year? Matt Phelps updates us on the incredible migration patterns of the bird species appearing across Sussex.

The Scrubland Superheroes project is in full swing, creating "stepping stones" of scrub habitat along the corridor. Project Officer Rachel Bicker lets us listen in on her work monitoring birdsong at one of her target sites.

Did you see our new wildlife survey for our gardens and greenspaces members? We've had a fantastic response to one of our first steps to understanding the biodiversity in your spaces.

Our Gardens and Greenspaces Coordinator, Amy Hurn, visits High Beeches, to find out more about their fabulous biodiversity and their work on nature recovery.

Shoresearch is The Wildlife Trusts' national citizen science survey of the intertidal shore. Find out how to get involved.

Judy Agate, local greenspace trustee and Greener Amberley committee member, talks about nature recovery in Amberley, and the latest work on planting and hedgelaying to boost biodiversity.

W2W Founding Farm, the Iford Estate, near Lewes, East Sussex, makes the press this month for their pioneering work in habitat creation.

Monitoring the corridor will take an army of experts and citizen scientists. Are you up for the challenge?

Do you manage land in the corridor? You could get involved in creating areas of scrub to help with the reappearance of Nightingales, Red-Backed Shrike and Black-Veined White butterfly.

Although we may be in the depths of winter, our landscape is alive with overwintering birds. Sussex Wildlife Trust's Species Recovery Officer, Matt Phelps, tells us more about what is going on, and where to see it all.

Tony Whitbread, independant ecologist and President of Sussex Wildlife Trust, reflects on the space between seasons and how it allows us to think beyond binaries.

Suzi Turner, Deputy Head Gardener at Knepp and Gardens and Greenspaces Ambassador, on autumn 'mess' and how to avoid tidying away hidden habitats.

Sussex is one of the most wooded regions in the country. Brush off your boots and explore the best of the autumn colour across the corridor.

As habitats increase along the corridor, they will provide safe passage for the great autumn bird migration. Ecologist and wildlife guide, Matt Phelps, shares how some species are embarking on their seasonal journey southward.

Fungi are a world of their own. Find out about the fascinating role they play in connectivity.

Sussex's coastline has long been a favourite destination for locals, tourists and wildlife. However, the deterioration of sea water quality in the region has been a growing concern in recent years.

Shining a light on one of Sussex's two seahorse species, which are facing a range of conservation challenges.

Off the coast of Sussex something amazing is happening. Two years ago the pioneering Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw came into place, pushing bottom-towed trawling 4km off the West Sussex Coast. The changes are now starting to happen.

Coastal habitats each offer a unique and vital ecosystem. Explore these diverse environments and the species they support.

Just as soils and land-based ecosystems have become degraded, so have marine habitats. Sewage is regularly discharged into rivers and seas, agricultural run-off upsets the natural balance of the water, while trawling destroys the seabed and the kelp forests that once flourished.

A journey up the Arun arm of the corridor with the Wildlife Trust.

The good news, from my experience, is that a wild garden – especially a mature one – can be extraordinarily resilient and resistant to even very prolonged periods of drought. Even through months of heatwave everything stays green and lush; no plants seem to show stress, and nothing needs watering.

I live in a terraced house in South Portslade, just outside Brighton, and have a modest 40ft garden. In the four years I’ve lived here, I’ve made my garden as welcoming to wildlife as possible, and it’s now teeming with hedgehogs, frogs, toads and newts, along with slow worms, birds and insects. Not bad for a small urban plot.

With the biodiversity crisis taking root in people’s minds, weeds have become a recent topic of interest and discussion. We look at the role native plants play in our gardens and greenspaces.

The media is overflowing with staggering numbers on species and wildlife populations in decline in countries around the world - and we know that the UK is one of the worst hit. So how can we measure nature decline in Sussex? This is a hugely important question with significant consequences for the corridor. Without a clear record of what we are losing we can’t understand the scale of our nature crisis or advocate for its recovery. By identifying the species and habitats most at risk from fragmentation, we have a clearer way of tracking the impact of the corridor on nature recovery in Sussex.

Our first survey on nature in our gardens has been completed by nearly a quarter of members already. We can start to build a picture of what we have to offer wildlife and what is needed to improve connectivity.

The Dartford warbler is one of the defining species for the conservation of this important area. It’s easily overlooked, sometimes giving itself away by its scratchy song and occasional song-flight. If conditions are right, pairs can raise two, even three broods each summer. Once down to only 10 pairs in the whole of the UK, habitat protection and management, and warmer winters, now mean the UK population is in the thousands.

This is an entirely valid concern in these uncertain times - is it possible to sustain food security alongside nature recovery?

The world is facing a biodiversity crisis that will affect every single one of us. With nature being lost at an unprecedented rate, scientists agree humans are exploiting our planet beyond its limits.

We started the year with a new global commitment to set aside 30% of the planet for nature by the end of this decade.