Protect Earth Skip to content Cheltenham, England
Protect Earth was born in the hills of Cotswolds so it's always a joy to expand our influence here. The windswept hills are devoid of trees, and the once diverse grasslands have been replaced with “improved grass” for grazing, so there is a lot of room to improve the situation.
Avoiding some historic quarry sites, an archeological site, and some underground electric cables, we planted 315 trees on one farm, then their neighbors got in touch looking to rewild some unused parts of their farms. Now we’re creating a wildlife network, connecting all new and existing woodlands and scrubland with shelterbelts and hedgerows.
The planting here was a great time. Half of the village came out to help, including neighboring farmers. They cut back a huge patch of blackthorn to provide wood chip mulch, which we’ve spread around the saplings to keep back competition from the fast growing grass and weeds.
A wonderful area for wildlife with corn buntings and skylarks still occurring on the farmland roundabout, with lots of exciting chalkland butterfly and plant species in the meadows.
Unfortunately sheep got into the young woodland due to insufficient fencing which has lost us a fair few saplings. The landowners have agreed to get some proper fencing up, so we’ll be back to restock these saplings and straighten and weed those that are still with us.
Red Kites were noticed soaring overhead; maybe these trees will provide nesting habitat for them in years to come. There were Chiffchaffs still singing around the area of new planting in August. The landowner said he had noticed an increase in butterflies and other insects around the Blackthorn and Hawthorn during the summer.
We came back to Hawling again, to plant another 880 trees, adding these trees means our Hawling woodland has grown nicely, and the saplings are doing well, merging into planting on a third neighbour’s land to create a network effect for wildlife.
The planting here was intended to increase the size and improve the quality of the hedge-line that runs through this farmland and meadow area. We have planted lots of species with berries which are eaten by winter thrushes, while in summer, bullfinches and linnets will use them as nesting habitat.
In March 2023, we came back to Hawling again to replace 400 failed saplings. This was one of our larger losses, with almost 100% of the previous January planting failing. There were several reasons for this, partly the incredibly hot summer and accompanying drought that hit in Summer 2022, and partly the total failure of most of the cardboard guards we were trialling here. They fell apart in the first few months, and many were then eaten by deer. Another part of the problem was the south-facing, quick-draining soil. We should not have planted there, but that was the last project we did before bringing on Steve the Ecologist, and we’ve had no similar problems since.
On a slightly cloudier winters in January 2022, we were invited by the new owners of a neighbouring sheep farm, to help plant a further 500 trees a few fields away.
With Ash dieback hitting hard there was interest in replacing the lost trees, and we planted several Hornbeam which serve the same wildlife.
Help us create and maintain new woodlands, hedgerows and wildflower meadows! We need volunteers to sow seeds, plant saplings, clear invasive plant species and pick up litter. No qualifications necessary; jobs for all ages and abilities. Come and turn climate anxiety into climate action!
With government funding for reforestation and rewilding tenuous, we increasingly rely on our amazing community to keep us growing regardless of political shifts. Help Protect Earth continue to restore ecosystems and improve biodiversity across the country.
Help us put down roots! Your donations to our Land Fund let us seize the moment when the perfect piece of land comes up for sale. Every penny helps us secure community woodlands, healthier ecosystems, and a greener future for generations to come.