Wildways Project
In this section
The Wildways Project
Over the past three years, the Wilder Horsham District initiative has been making great strides to create a Nature Recovery Network across the District .
Key to this work is the development of wildlife corridors to allow species to move freely from place to place. These corridors can be long grass, scrub, woodland, water courses and ditches.
As well as working closely with large landowners and community partners, through our partnership with Sussex Wildlife Trust, this approach extends to Council owned and managed land.
The Council’s draft Green Space Strategy states that 'while appreciating that our open spaces must serve many purposes; where possible sites will be managed sustainably and seek to enhance biodiversity and climate resilience.
For several years, the Council has been creating small meadow areas in our parks, open spaces and countryside sites including Horsham Park and Southwater Country Park.
Leaving the grass to grow long encourages native wildflower meadows to establish, and attracts bees, butterflies, moths and other pollinators as well as providing food for many birds.
We are proud to have been working with Horsham Green Spaces Forum, BilliGreen, Wild about Warnham, and Greening Steyning amongst others to develop these wildlife corridors which will help our shared ambitions to connect habitats.
Volunteers from the Horsham Green Spaces Forum have undertaken work to identify potential routes across our largest urban area, Horsham Town (as shown on the map opposite)
In 2024 the Council is amending the mowing regime in selected areas on a larger number of our parks and open spaces to further improve these wildlife corridors. Find out what the Council is doing on our land.
As the map above shows, the long-term aspirations would involve connecting private land, gardens, schools, Parish Council owned land and highway verges – in short there is an opportunity for everyone to make a difference.
To reflect this co-ordinated approach, we are pleased to announce The Wildways Project, an umbrella term that will embrace all the opportunities to make our district richer in nature.