HASTINGS Borough Council has been awarded a new 10-year Countryside Stewardship government grant to help manage Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve.
The Countryside Stewardship funding is to assist land managers to enable them to look after and improve the environment and increase biodiversity.
The council says they aim to build on the work achieved since 2003 under the two previous stewardship agreements, which saw farmland taken out of intensive management and the introduction of conservation grazing to manage and restore threatened habitats.
The key focus over the next ten years will be the transition of the arable fields to wood pasture, the diversifying flora species of the grassland and further restoration of the heathland habitats.
Major habitat restoration is also planned for the old quarry over the next three years, to safeguard the nationally important geological sandstone features and reduce the amount of scrub and gorse.
Councillor Jo Walker, lead for Environment and Neighbourhood Wellbeing, said: “This grant is fantastic news and secures the management of the reserve for the next ten years.
“Allowing us to build on the successes achieved under the two previous stewardship agreements and prioritise the restoration of threatened habitats.
“While also creating new habitats and managing the whole reserve to encourage wildflowers and pollinating insects.
“We are all aware that the UK is facing a biodiversity crisis, with many species in decline.
“This grant will help the council, its partners, and the local community work together to ensure we can make a difference to safeguarding and managing biodiversity on our doorstep.”
The Countryside Stewardship grant runs until 2034, you can find out more about this and Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve at: www.hastings.gov.uk/parks_gardens_allotments/parks/hastingscountrypark/
