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Watch: How Sussex farmers are helping nature
Farming in Sussex goes back to antiquity with evidence that cereals were grown here over 7,000 years ago.
Today nearly 60% of Sussex is agricultural land, so its vital that our Local Nature Recovery Strategies hear from farmers and land managers about what they’ve already done for nature on their unproductive land, and where they’d like to restore or create habitats, or support species recovery in the future.
Over the summer, the Sussex Nature Recovery team met with farmer clusters across West Sussex to hear about their priorities for nature and the actions they’ve been taking.
What are farmer clusters?
Farmer clusters are groups of farmers and land managers in the same area who come together for the environment. By working with an advisor/facilitator and sharing best practice with each other, clusters are better placed to be able to deliver greater benefits for nature, and to do so at the landscape scale.
The Arun to Adur Farmers Group
One example of a farmer cluster that’s been leading the way for nature is the Arun to Adur Farmers Group, based near Worthing and Arundel.
The LNRS team met with two of its directors, Dominic Gardner and Caroline Harriott to hear about some of the things the cluster has done including actions to improve soil health, restore species, and plant hedgerows, all while producing food for our tables.
Many of these interventions aren’t visible to the public, so it’s important we hear about and celebrate the great things that farmers and land managers are doing (and want to do) across Sussex, and where farming and nature together is not just good for the environment, but good for business too.
