Please help save Strawberry Hill
The Wildlife Trust BCN (that’s Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire) have a very special appeal to everyone to help save Strawberry Hill.
About 35 years ago, the previous owner decided to let nature take over the 377 acre site. And the land transformed itself. Poor arable fields turned into grassland, shrub and young woodland. Naturally, the wildlife moved in – and now nightingales, turtle doves, linnets, badgers, harvest mice and others enjoy the transformation. Give nature a home, and they will come, as the RSPB say.
UPDATE: 20:18 on 16th August 2024: The appeal is up to £445,429 - so it's moving on up to its target £1.5 million - please donate if you can. And The Guardian kindly did an article on the appeal and Strawberry Hill - you can read it here. We all need to contribute - donating, sharing about the appeal - to make this happen. The wildlife are counting on us!
Strawberry Hill matters to wildlife
Nightingales have declined by 90% in the last 50 years
Turtle dove numbers have dramatically declined by 97% over 30 years
WILDLIFE NEED THIS SITE to survive and thrive.
Be a part of the opportunity to help wildlife
Now, there’s a very exciting opportunity for wildlife, as the Wildlife Trust BCN could – if they can raise the funds – buy and protect Strawberry Hill forever!
How much do they need to raise? £1.5 million. If 150,000 of us donated £10, that would hit the target! Or if 300,000 of us donated £5, that would hit it, too!
Strawberry Hill does not have SSSI status – so it’s even more important that we help protect it for wildlife. Bedfordshire is intensively farmed, and only 1.2% of this county is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Progress so far...
Strawberry Hill came on to the open market, and thanks to fast action, the Wildlife Trust BCN was able to lease Strawberry Hill in 2022. This has given them time to raise the necessary funds to buy the site. Thus far, they’ve raised £1 million, and they were able to bring the southern half into their ownership earlier this year. And now, they need to raise £1.5 million more to buy the freehold of the rest of Strawberry Hill.
Just imagine if Strawberry Hill was sold to a commercial buyer!
It could happen. Please be a part of the journey to raise the funds to save Strawberry Hill. The wildlife there are depending on us all to make that happen.
Comments