Rother Farm NFM
| Budget | £13,000 (Funded by Severn Trent Water Boost for Biodiversity Grant) |
|---|---|
| Partners | Rother Farm, Severn Trent Water, Environment Agency |
| Key outcomes | Habitat creation, NFM, drought resilience, community engagement, water quality, carbon storage |
| Local watercourse | River Rother |
This roughly 6ha landholding was proving difficult for the farmer to make a profit from. This is because of its tendency to flood from the River Rother, which flows through the middle of it. A successful application by DCRT to the Severn Trent Water Boost for Biodiversity Grant covered the delivery and maintenance costs of multiple measures designed in collaboration with the farmer, that provided a range of benefits including:
- Enhancing and creating wildlife habitat
- Slowing the flow of rainfall and runoff into the river and holding back flood waters
- Improving soil structure
- Increasing carbon sequestration
- Improving water quality
- Community engagement
As part of the scheme, a number of new features and maintenance works were implimented. This included:
- 2 field corner ponds
- 8 temporary floodplain storage scrapes
- 6 ha diverse herbal leys
- 160m new hedgerow
- Improved existing hedgerow management including 150m laid
- Himalayan balsam removal
Local volunteers have been involved with hedgerow planting and maintenance, as well as annual control of Himalayan balsam.
