HOME FARM: Supporting Biodiversity & The Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative
1,500 trees planted…and we need more of your help
You'll often hear us talking about biodiversity net gain here on the Aldenham Estate because the biodiversity crisis is in fact more pressing than addressing climate change. Without biodiversity (the variety of plant and animal life) our food supplies diminish, our water loses its natural filtration processes and our pollinators disappear - to name a few.
Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared over the centuries, with farming and urban spread triggered by the industrial and agricultural revolutions contributing to this loss. A huge priority for us is the regeneration of the land on the farm, and ensuring that we restore biodiversity and habitats that have been lost over the years.
That’s why we are working with another local family business, Maydencroft, which is designing a 20-year woodland management plan for the Estate, and with Alice Darby, Manager of Home Farm Glamping, and our ecologist Rob Hopkins, who spent almost two decades as a Reserves Officer at Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, have been overseeing a biodiversity management strategy, helping us restore miles of hedgerows, rediscover ponds and water systems lost over the years, and leading the planting of 1,500 native trees in 2022 and 2023 alone, part of the Queen’s Green Canopy programme.
With the late Queen’s tree planting scheme comes to an end, we wanted you to know that we will continue to do all we can on the Estate to increase biodiversity net gain with the help of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and you can get involved!
We run open and private regeneration days at Home Farm with our Biodiversity Consultant, Rob. The next open event is on Thursday 6th April 2023. Head to our What's On page to find out more.