CPRE Gloucestershire’s Hedgerow Restoration project

CPRE Gloucestershire is running an exciting new project to restore our hedgerows

It’s National Hedgerow Week (29th May – 6th June) and we’re excited to announce a new project which will contribute to the restoration of our hedgerows, 50% of which have been lost since WWII.

Did you know that hedges are home to roughly 80% of our woodland birds? They also absorb carbon and air pollution, provide wildlife habitats and make us feel better with their lush greenery. They make an immense contribution to fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. Our hedgerows are unsung heroes of nature!

Hedgerow Planting with Cotswold Canals Connected 

Working with Cotswold Canals Connected, we will work with landowners to improve habitat connectivity in the wider countryside through the planting of 4km of native species-rich hedgerows.

Hedgerows will be planted strategically to improve habitat connectivity by linking isolated areas of hedgerow and woodland and providing ecological corridors across the landscape.

These hedges will improve the permeability of the landscape and allow wildlife to move across it more easily, allowing them to become more resilient to future change. In addition, the hedges will create natural soft boundaries between land parcels and provide stock proofing to control and limit where grazing can occur.

In addition to benefits for wildlife, hedgerows capture and store carbon both in the woody growth and within the soil itself (a new hedgerow may store 600-800kh of CO2 equivalent per year per km, for up to 20 years) and, as a result, the Climate Change Committee have recommended a 40% increase in hedges to help the UK achieve Net Zero by 2050.

Can you help?

We are looking for volunteers, either for a couple of hours or for more regular hours, to help out within the project. If you want to get involved please email info@cpreglos.org.uk for more information