Biodiversity

Thanks to its acres of mature parkland and long stretch of river bank, Howbery Park is a natural haven for wildlife and wild flowers. In the summer months, around half of all British butterfly species can be spotted here, as well as many different types of birds, bees and dragonflies.

We would like to improve biodiversity further around our grounds, so Nurture, the company which maintains our grounds, has drawn up a biodiversity action plan for the estate.

As a result, we have embarked on a scheme where we will choose an area of biodiversity – such as butterflies, insects, birds, amphibians or wildflowers – to focus on for a year. The scheme, which was set up by Nurture and a group of conservation bodies, aims to help organisations improve biodiversity in small steps and clearly demonstrate how they are making improvements.

To start with, we have chosen to enhance conditions for bees from mid-2019 to mid-2020. We have to reach objectives set by Nurture and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. These include introducing ‘homes’ for wildlife, buying certain ‘bee-friendly’ plants, using peat free compost, and putting up information boards about bees.