A Christmas message from our Chief Executive
As the year comes to a close, I would like to extend a huge thank you to all our partners, friends, and volunteers who have worked tirelessly with us to care for our beautiful Chilterns National Landscape.
Looking back, 2024 has been another busy but incredibly rewarding year. We secured £350,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop the Not Bourne Yesterday project, connecting local communities with the rivers and rich heritage of the Chilterns. We were selected as one of six National Landscape hubs for the £2m Nature Calling initiative – connecting people in the Luton area to nature through art – and made great strides in the Mend the Gap programme, enhancing the landscape impacted by the Great Western Railway line through a raft of community-based projects including planting 190 trees and over 11,000 plants this year alone!
We also awarded grants totalling £998,000 to farmers and land managers through the government’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme. A diverse range of conservation projects were funded including creating wood pasture, conducting deer surveys, enhancing habitat for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, supporting the new south Chilterns farm cluster and planting disease resistant elm trees.
With funding from the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Access for All programme, by the end of the year we will have awarded almost £262,000 to improve access to the Chilterns for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, with projects including Changing Places toilets, accessible gates, mobility vehicles, interpretation boards and signage.
This year also saw our five-year landscape partnership scheme, Chalk, Cherries and Chairs come to a close. The outcomes for the Chilterns landscape and communities, and the relationships built through this project, will last a lifetime, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed, whether by volunteering, sharing knowledge, attending an event, or taking other action to help. With over 21 years’ worth of volunteer hours recorded, it’s been a phenomenal achievement.
The Chilterns Chalk Streams Project also made a difference for our iconic chalk streams. For example, nine river restoration projects were completed, including one of the UK’s largest winterbourne restoration projects on the Hamble Brook. We also connected with 3500 school children through our Trout in the Classroom sessions and presented the results of our citizen science work at 15 academic conferences and events. And over 100 archaeology volunteers helped the Chilterns Heritage and Archaeology Partnership (CHAP) this summer to unearth a possible Roman road above the River Chess at Sarratt, in Buckinghamshire.
All of the achievements above are testament to the dedication, energy and expertise of the fantastic Chilterns National Landscape team and our wonderful network of partners – farmers, land managers, charitable organisations, volunteers and funders.
Looking ahead, 2025 promises to be another eventful year. Only this week, the government announced plans to “unleash the full potential of National Parks and National Landscapes” with strengthened legislation. This is a positive step forward, and we’re looking forward to progressing these proposals with the government over the coming months.
We’re also looking forward to the launch of Natural England’s public consultation on its plans to extend the Chilterns National Landscape boundary. We will also be publishing our new Management Plan and Nature Recovery Plan for the Chilterns – both plans will be vital in guiding how, with our partners, we will restore nature, tackle climate change, support a thriving local economy and connect more people with this special landscape.
In the meantime, I wish you all an enjoyable festive season, a restful break, and the chance to get outdoors and enjoy the Chilterns or the local countryside where you live!
Dr Elaine King
Chief Executive
Chilterns National Landscape
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