Farmers in Yorkshire and Derbyshire are teaming up to plant 6km of new hedges on their farms this winter as part of a collaborative nature project.
Hope Valley Farmers in Derbyshire and Bradfield Farmers Group in Yorkshire will plant 31,000 hedge plants and 1,500 trees.
This, combined with 10km already planted and 8km planned for next year, will make 24km in only four years.
The farmers are part of the Peakland Environmental Farmers (PEF), an environmental cooperative launched in 2023, representing 77 producers.
They are planting in line with PEF's aims of biodiversity recovery and net zero carbon by 2040.
Tom Noel, local farmer and chair of PEF, says the project demonstrates that with the right support, collaborative action for the environment by farmers can achieve nature recovery.
“Our upland farms are a rare haven for several very rare species, so by linking habitats with new hedgerows our members are committing their own time and effort to create wildlife corridors.
“As a cooperative we plan to plant more hedgerows each year as part of a broader conservation plan, thereby hopefully meeting and beating government targets on biodiversity, carbon, clean air and water.
"We will achieve this at the same time as welcoming over 13m visitors to our farms each year and contributing to national food security and thriving village communities in the Peak District.”
Mark Priestley, a Hope Valley Farmers member, has been creating new hedges across his farm for several years now - over 700m worth in the last two years.
“The boundaries on the farm were mainly fences before, so it is a great opportunity to plant hedges and create a network of wildlife corridors across the farm," he said.
The hedge plants and trees were supplied by the Woodland Trust, which has provided plants for the last five years to farmers in the Hope Valley and Bradfield.
The PEF was launched in 2023 to help farmers access emerging natural capital markets, blending public and private sources of funding to replace the loss of BPS subsidies.
