A visionary partnership project working to promote integrated management of a viable and enhanced landscape in the West Weald for people and nature.

The West Weald Landscape Project (WWLP) covers a large area of 240 square kilometres (nearly 60,000 acres) at the western end of the Low Weald, north of the town of Petworth. A broad partnership of 15 organisations including environmental bodies and local authorities are involved in the project. The WWLP aims to enhance the area through an integrated landscape-scale approach to achieve improved condition of the natural environment, creating space for nature, encouraging natural processes, and expanding the services provided freely by ecosystems such as clean air and water. In addition to stabilising and enhancing the biodiversity of the core forest areas present, we seek to create better connections across a more naturally functioning landscape to enable species to thrive within and move between sites, giving them a better chance of adapting to the impacts of climate change in particular.

The involvement of farmers and landowners is crucial to realising less intensive land use and reinstating traditional forms of management in the wider countryside, such as coppicing of woodland, based on the targeting of funding through the Government's Environmental Stewardship and England Woodland Grant Scheme.

We work with people furthermore to foster greater public understanding, enjoyment, access to and inspiration from a more natural landscape, and are interested also to encourage increased provision of local 'sustainable' natural goods and services such as wood chips and organic meat.

The West Weald is an incredible natural resource - Let's make the effort to better understand, enhance and enjoy it!

For more information please visit the project website, www.westweald.org.uk

NEW REPORT The State of the West Weald's Natural Environment(2006) pdf 3.5MB
or click here to view Summary leaflet