The River Allen Landscape Recovery Project covers 21km of chalk stream, and 1,300 hectares of land, with a timeline of over 20 years.
Making appropriate, long-term plans that cover hydrology and habitats both in and around the water, requires a thorough understanding of the land and river as they stand now.
To that end, we have been working with a range of local companies and charities to perform extensive surveys and make recommendations relevant to each area of their expertise.
- The Wessex Rivers Trust is working closely with the University of Southampton to look at restoring the river’s natural hydrology and floodplain
- Dorset Environmental Records Centre and Abbas Ecology are collaborating on a habitat survey and making recommendations for enhancement and new habitat creation across the terrestrial environments covered by the project
- Tilhill Forestry are looking at the best ways to improve existing woodlands for biodiversity and the potential for creating new woodland
- A Heritage Impact Assessment is being performed by Fearn Heritage & Archaeology to ensure that habitat restoration is in harmony with the rich heritage of the River Allen valley. They will be investigating ways that nature recovery can help look after heritage sites – e.g. converting arable fields to native chalk grassland can help protect buried archaeology by ceasing disturbance from ploughing
All these recommendations, and others, will be compiled and discussed with landowners in 1:1 consultations to reach agreement on what will be possible for them and their land.
This process is where the project really begins to come to life, with shared commitments to an exciting future for the River.
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