Set in the countryside of Warwickshire near the village of Bubbenhall, this farm known as Warwickshire Lavender Farm is undergoing a transformation. This land was about to be sold to a housing developer, but the new owners managed to grab the land last minute to protect it. The unproductive farm now has a new lease of life, growing and processing lavender into natural products. Protect Earth will be planting 1.5 acres of unused field this winter, and we’ll also plant one acre of wildflower meadow in spring as the autumn planting window was missed.

Our ecologists surveyed for existing habitats, and found evidence of owls and badgers. We don’t want to do anything that will mess with them, so we’re avoiding planting near the badger dens and will be leaving lots of the land unplanted, as wildflower meadow which will still provide a hunting ground for owls, but sequester more carbon than the introduced grass species currently in the field.

This area is also in a Nation Habitat Network ‘Fragmentation Action Zone’ - which relates to ‘Land immediately adjoining existing habitat patches that are small or have an excessive edge to area ratio where habitat creation is likely to help reduce the effects of habitat fragmentation’. This could mean the site is perfectly positioned to feed into the goals of defragmentation in the area, and we will cater the species selection and density to maximise benefits for the biodiversity of the area.

Risks

Deer: Our trees will need larger 1.2 meter tubes to keep the deer away, as there is now known deer stalking in the area, and budget will not allow for deer fencing around the new woodland areas.