Restoring natural habitats across Chiddingly Parish

Wildlife and habitats in Chiddingly Parish are under threat as a result of past landscape management decisions and future climate change. This page provides information about a series of nature restoration and community arts projects taking place across the parish. The projects – all led by local farmers and landowners – have a common aim: to restore local biodiversity. They include work to restore hedgerows and woodland, plant native tree corridors along public rights of way, remove invasive species, improve ponds and reinstate wetland areas to encourage species diversity. Farmers with land along the main stream and tributaries of the Bull River are introducing natural flood management schemes, include the creation of leaky woody dams to reduce flood peaks downstream in the Cuckmere River. These initiatives are enhanced by the FARMSCAPE arts project, which includes poetry, arts and soundscapes created by community members.

Alongside these projects, we are working to understand the current biodiversity of the Parish, and the Bull River in particular. Since April 2024, we have been using cutting-edge science to sample the environmental DNA (or eDNA) of water at sites across the Bull River catchment. This allows us to identify the species living in our rivers. Since February 2025, we have also been conducting bird surveys at various locations. Together, the eDNA and bird survey data will allow us to track biodiversity change over time, and understand the impact of our restoration projects upon wildlife. It will also help us target new projects to increase biodiversity within our community and the upper Cuckmere catchment.

Our projects have been generously funded by the Lund Trust, with support and guidance from the High Weald National Landscape Partnership. Support for eDNA analyses has been provided by The Chalk Cliff Trust and private donors. This marks the beginning of an exciting journey towards our wider vision: to create a nature corridor, with the Cuckmere River Catchment as our guide, to restore the flow of water (and life) from the ancient oak forests of the High Weald to the kelp forests of the Sussex coast.

To find out more about our projects, click on the images below or use the drop-down menu.

Thank you

Greening Chiddingly would like to express our immense gratitude to the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape Partnership for their support and guidance in the development of these projects. We would also like to thank The Chalk Cliff Trust and various anonymous donors for supporting eDNA monitoring and other conservation efforts. Thanks also to the Gun Brewery for kindly hosting various project inception and launch events. Finally, thanks to the farmers and landowners across the Parish for their enthusiasm and commitment to restoring nature at a landscape scale.