In an ambitious effort to restore the natural environment across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, farmers and landowners are collaborating with conservation charities to find innovative ways to secure a better future for the region’s wildlife.

National conservation charity Freshwater Habitats Trust is leading the pioneering project with River Thame Conservation Trust. Funded through the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Landscape Recovery programme, it involves more than 90 landowners and other partners.

Members of the Thame Catchment Farmer Cluster and Ock Catchment Farmer Cluster will partner with the conservation charities to create rich habitat networks and carbon stores on low-productivity land. The project aims to protect and enhance wildlife hotspots and environmental resources, while simultaneously meeting the vital need for high-quality food produced by British farms.

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The initiative marks the first large-scale roll-out of the Freshwater Network: a national network of wilder, wetter, cleaner, connected freshwaters, led by Freshwater Habitats Trust. It also capitalises on the River Thame Conservation Trust’s expertise in river and catchment restoration and strong local ties with farmers and communities.  

Covering more than 8,500 hectares (33 square miles) across the River Ock and River Thame catchments, the project area stretches from Aylesbury in the east to Faringdon in the west and from Kidlington in the north to Wallingford in the south. It focuses on land around the two rivers, which have the potential to provide habitat for freshwater wildlife, including threatened and protected species such as Great Crested Newt and Curlew and plants, such as Water-violet and Greater Water-parsnip.

During the two-year development phase, the project partners will focus on long-term opportunities to develop habitats for freshwater wildlife on farms across both catchments. Innovative funding methods for these restoration goals, such as payment for Ecosystems Services, will be developed into a viable landscape-scale strategy.

The ‘Ock and Thame Farmers: Freshwaters and Floodplains Restoration Project’ is one of 34 projects across England in the second round of the Landscape Recovery scheme. Landscape Recovery is a large-scale, long-term scheme for farmers and land managers that will offer generational benefits for agricultural businesses, the environment and local communities.  

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Building on more than 35 years of habitat creation and restoration in the region from Oxford-based Freshwater Habitats Trust, the two-year development phase will pave the way for the charity’s future work across the two counties.

Freshwater Habitats Trust Programme Manager Hannah Worker said: “A key part of our vision for the Freshwater Network is to identify wetland opportunity areas, where we can restore habitats. Through this project, we’re working with farmers and landowners to find areas on historic floodplains where we can not only increase biodiversity but also provide benefits for farm businesses and local communities, such as reducing run off.

“We’ll be focusing particularly on restoring and creating small freshwater habitats, which research has shown can make the biggest difference in boosting biodiversity. The initial response has been fantastic and landowners in the Thame and Ock catchments are keen to contribute to efforts to restore these landscapes for future generations.”

River Thame Conservation Trust’s Senior Project Officer Hilary Phillips said: “Supporting the farming community in its pursuit of sustainable land and business goals has always been central to our mission in the Thame catchment. The Landscape Recovery scheme offers an excellent opportunity to realise that mission. It enables us to draw in the expertise needed from industry, research, and other NGOs to help farmers meet the challenge of producing high-quality food alongside achieving environmental goals such as net zero and nature recovery, whilst also realising income opportunities environmental outcomes bring.”

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Tom Allen-Stevens, Chair of the Ock Farmer Cluster said: “There’s clearly a role for farmers to be part of the solution for nature recovery, but we’re very limited as to what we can achieve on our own – we simply don’t have the skills required to build a cohesive plan and to deliver it in a way that meets society’s objectives. The Landscape Recovery project allows us to come together to meet our collective aims, to deliver something that will actually make a difference locally and nationally."

“All of us involved in the Ock Farmer Cluster are looking to create better habitats on our own farms. By doing so as a group, we connect those habitats, physically, through wildlife and riparian corridors, but also socially, as a collective within which we can share knowledge. It really is truly inspiring to feel you’re part of something that actually makes a difference.”

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