Wildlife
We are working with farmers, NGOs and an amazing team of delivery partners and dedicated volunteers to bring real change to the landscape and wildlife of the Chilterns.
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Landscape Connections
Working with landowners to motivate and support them to manage more of their land for the benefit of wildlife and landscape conservation.
Rough around the Edges
Small, wildlife-rich areas can be just as important as big ones: by improving and connecting these little islands of nature we can help wildlife recover.
Water in a Dry Landscape
The Central Chilterns area does have many small streams and ponds, forming the headwaters and catchment for the R Thame.
Chilterns Orchards
Looking into the history of the area's traditional cherry orchards and locally developed fruit varieties, training communities to restore & manage orchards.
Tracking the Impact
Learn new skills, benefit from a wide range of free training and improve your knowledge of local birds, plants and butterflies.
Chilterns New Shoots
What could our free year long youth programme offer you or a young person you know?
Central Chilterns Farmer Cluster
A farmer cluster is when a group of farmers from a region form a group to discuss important issues and agree on cross-farm strategies and initiatives.
Why is the Chilterns such a special landscape?
The Chilterns AONB was designated to protect its special qualities including the steep chalk escarpment with areas of flower-rich downland, woodlands, commons, tranquil valleys, networks of ancient routes, villages with brick and flint buildings, and a rich history of hill forts and chalk figures such as the Whiteleaf Cross.
The past actions of ice and melt-waters, combined with the geology, soils and climate, and generations of human influence in the Central Chilterns give rise to distinctive, beautiful and varied habitats rich in wildlife and historical value.
The Chilterns has nationally-important concentrations of chalk grassland, particularly along the slopes of the steep scarps and dry valleys. Luxuriant stands of orchids and other local species such as the Chiltern gentian are vital components of the area’s distinctiveness. Many of the insects found here rely on chalk-grassland plants – for example the Adonis blue, Chalkhill blue and Duke of Burgundy butterflies.
Arable field margins, if managed appropriately, can create beneficial conditions for key farmland species. Cornfield annuals, poppies and knapweed, which have suffered national declines in distribution and abundance can find a home there. Arable field margins are also important nesting and feeding sites for game birds and song birds including the skylark and corn bunting.
Hedgerows have been part of our landscape for centuries and provide a direct cultural link to our past; they still bear the marks of traditional hedgerow management, and help to uncover human activity in the area. Black Hedge at Princes Risborough, is known to have been in existence since AD 903 and is thought to be England’s oldest hedge.
Our Delivery Partners
We are proud to be working with Chiltern Rangers, BBOWT and a host of other partners to bring about real change for the wildlife of the Chilterns. From hedge laying and coppicing to community garden plans and heritage orchard support, our team is there to support the farmers, community groups and passionate volunteers of the Chilterns.
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