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Working with Natural England to create a nature-friendly farm in Kent

England
Farm Practices

How Natural England helped create more space for nature and biodiversity on Pippa Southorn’s farm on the Isle of Thanet.

When Pippa Southorn took over the running of Abbey Farm in Kent, she wanted to move away from the conventional, high-input, high-output farming model used when her dad was in charge.

She knew the Isle of Thanet was on the front line of South East England’s building boom, with green spaces shrinking to make way for new housing. Pippa realised her farm’s 900 acres were among the last large open areas where nature could still thrive.

With this in mind, Pippa turned to Natural England. Working closely together, they have introduced significant changes at Abbey Farm, setting it on the right track towards a viable future built on nature-friendly farming.

What did Natural England do at Abbey Farm?

Pippa first read in the farming press that Natural England representatives would visit farms and offer free advice on managing land for nature. After a few months of email conversations, her request for assistance brought Natural England adviser Dan Tuson to Abbey Farm in 2018. 

In total, 19 hectares of land previously used for crops were taken out of food production and managed specifically for nature. The most ambitious part was the creation of scrapes all along the bank of the River Stour, which provides a haven for winter wading birds.

Natural England also introduced pollinator strips and plots of winter bird food across the farm, along with pollinator mixes in the organic crops. On the highest parts of the farm, where the land is chalky rather than marshy, Natural England suggested sowing suitable mixes of native vegetation.

Pippa was also given guidance on managing parts of her land differently, such as maintaining a variety of grass lengths around the site.

How did Pippa find working with Natural England?

Pippa found the experience largely positive. “To get things up and running they asked for a rough overview of the farm’s history, a description of what was there and a map,” she recalls. “They then came out to have a look at everything and put a plan in place. The initial process of emailing was quite slow, and I had to keep chasing them, but things moved quite quickly once Dan got involved.

“He was very knowledgeable about the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the area and how to connect the landscape.”

Dan designed the entire scheme for Abbey Farm from scratch, though Pippa emphasises it was a two-way process, “We could always say if we didn’t think something would work for us, or if a different approach would suit the farm better,” she says. “Dan would then go back to his plans and come up with an alternative. It was definitely a collaboration.”

However, before work could begin, Pippa had to submit plans for the scrapes to the Environment Agency (EA) and the internal drainage board. The EA needed to grant an abstraction licence because the scrapes would naturally fill with water when river levels were high. Approval also had to be sought from the local council and from Historic England, as the site contains the remains of the Abbot’s Wall, an earth bank built by monks in the area around 1,000 years ago.

We could always say if we didn't think something would work for us, or if a different approach would suit the farm better. Dan would then go back to his plans and come up with an alternative. It was definitely a collaboration.

Pippa Southorn

“Some of that was fine. It was just a case of sending an email or reading a set of guidelines to make sure we followed them,” Pippa recalls. “For the environmental abstraction licence, the EA needed to work out the volume of water that would fill the scrapes when the Stour flooded, but Dan was able to calculate the information we needed. It was our responsibility to sort the licensing and approvals, though.”

Dan became a regular visitor to the farm while the work, carried out by Pippa and her team, was under way. “He was there throughout various stages of the scrapes being dug,” she says. “The whole process of creating those took around a month.”

Overall, Pippa would encourage any farmer looking to manage more of their land for nature to speak to Natural England.

Is this an ongoing relationship?

Dan continues to visit Abbey Farm for annual inspections and is available for Pippa to email about any ideas or issues that arise.

However, the design for Abbey Farm has needed very little tweaking since 2018, with the changes simply becoming more embedded over time. “It has pretty much settled in nicely,” Pippa says. “The one thing we have been considering is planting more trees to soften the landscape, because it is very flat and open, but we haven’t agreed on anything yet.”

What has the impact on Abbey Farm been?

As Natural England selected areas of the farm that were difficult to grow crops on and required costly inputs, Pippa was not concerned that managing more of her land for nature would affect viability or profitability. The changes also complement payments for options related to farming with low levels of pesticides and insecticides within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). 

Pippa focused on protecting biodiversity on her farm amid the Isle of Thanet's growing development, and giving its 250 hectares of marshland “a bit of breathing space”. With turtle doves frequenting the fields and golden plovers gathering on the scrapes in winter, this side of the farm is being supported by the changes made.

Pippa says the emphasis on the River Stour has paid off, as looking after waterways has moved up the news agenda. “Protecting rivers and improving water quality has become so important in farming now,” she says. “Changing the riverbank to habitat was something Natural England identified quickly.”

In summing up the relationship with Natural England, Pippa explains how helping nature goes hand in hand with agriculture. “It has been a satisfying process,” she says. “Without Natural England’s help we couldn’t have done all this for nature, and it has been beneficial for the health of our farm as well.”

Interested in working with Natural England? Pippa’s project was funded through the Higher Tier Stewardship scheme. Today, Natural England continues to support farmers through the new Higher Tier Stewardship offer. More info can be found here or contact enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk.

Farmers can also benefit from Catchment Sensitive Farming, which provides free, confidential advice to help improve water and air quality while reducing flooding risks. More info can be found here.

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