South Sherwood Nature Recovery Network

Severn Trent Water is aiming to enhance 5000 hectares (Ha) of land across the region by 2027 as part of the Great Big Nature Boost campaign. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) has partnered with Severn Trent Water to deliver habitat improvements as part of this initiative across the South Sherwood area to improve biodiversity. The project covers the South Sherwood area between Clipstone, Mansfield, Rainworth, and Bilsthorpe as a top priority.

Project background

For several years Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) has convened a group of the landowners in this area to work towards a vision for protecting, enhancing and creating habitats - and many great successes have been achieved on the ground, including increases in breeding nightjar and woodlark, and the creation of new heathland. The project also covers NWT nature reserves Strawberry Hill Heath and Rainworth Heath. The challenge is great however, and more resources are needed to bring the next tranche of habitats into better condition to strengthen the habitat network at scale.

Habitats will include woodland, heathland, grassland, and other land types, if it achieves a biodiversity benefit.  

Project milestones

Over 200 hectares of habitat enhancements are targeted within the South Sherwood area by March 2026.  The first the year of the project runs to March 2025 with project completion by March 2026. 

• By March 2025: 195 Ha of habitat enhancement (incl. a large area of cover crops) 

• By March 2026: a further 30 Ha of habitat enhancement (total of 225 Ha for the project) 

Delivery Highlights: 

• Re-opening habitat on Clipstone Heath SSSI to restore Heathland priority habitat 

• Cattle grazing enabled on Rainworth Heath and adjacent Spring Hill enabling heathland to be protected by tackling bracken and scrub 

• Creation of invertebrate and woodlark habitat at the former Rufford Colliery site 

• Acid grassland species diversification across several council-owned recreational parkland sites

In the future we hope to expand the project further to include: 

• Woodland management in multiple plantations to allow more light reach the ground floor, boosting biodiversity by encouraging natural regeneration and other plants. The deadwood produced by the work will provide habitat for fungi and invertebrates while contributing to the recycling of nutrients to promote new growth. 

• Scrub management and scrape creation on heathland sites 

• Non-native species control e.g. Laurel removal at Berry Hill. Non-native species, such as Laurel, can be invasive in the shrub layer of woodland, it is shade tolerant, but itself casts a dense shade that excludes other species from both the shrub and field layers, and ultimately prevents the regeneration of canopy trees.