SOMERSET Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to raise £100,000 to reverse wildlife decline and reduce carbon emissions through its first-ever wilding project.
In August 2021, the trust announced it had bought Honeygar, an 81-hectare former intensively managed dairy farm located in the Avalon Marshes wetlands.
Honeygar contains drained peat soils (formed of dead and decaying plants built up over thousands of years) which it plans on rewetting as a priority.
Rewetting the peat soils will help transform the land from carbon emitting into a net carbon sink.
The trust says it should help attract nationally declining bird species like lapwing, skylark, and snipe, and other rare plants and creatures.
Rewetting the peat will also better-connect Honeygar with its surrounding nature-rich sites and help preserve at least five ancient Neolithic trackways of archaeological significance.
Somerset Wildlife Trust CEO Georgia Stokes said: “To reverse wildlife decline and address the climate emergency, we need 30 per cent of land in the UK managed positively for nature by 2030, and our natural places connected up to help wildlife spread.
“We also know that protecting peat soils is critical if we are to achieve the county’s carbon and climate targets.
“Honeygar represents the most incredible opportunity to do both and is one of the most pioneering projects in the trust’s history - and it’s our first wilding project.
“We’re really excited about what the future holds for the site.
“Honeygar has already generated an amazing amount of support and positive feedback, but for it to be successful we need to raise more funds.”
Head of nature recovery Simon Clark added: “Honeygar will be managed very differently to our nature reserves as it’s our first wilded site.
“There’s much to be done to reverse years of intensive management and to transform this nature-poor dairy farm into the wildlife-rich site we know it can be.”
The trust says its findings from the Honeygar project will be shared with farmers, landowners, and communities - and it could help them generate income through payments for storing carbon and improving water quality and biodiversity.
Katie Arber, the trust's director of fundraising and marketing, said: “We have been blown away by the early support for our vision for Honeygar and hope many more people will want to be part of our first wilding journey by donating to our Honeygar appeal.”
To donate, visit Somerset Wildlife Trust's website or phone 01823 652429.
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