Walk on the wild side
We were made SO welcome on our visit to South Holt Farm! Harvey Jones has bought 2 farms in Hampshire, both purchased with a view to allowing them to rewild as they were not on prime agricultural land. South Holt Farm near Finchdean is on chalk and with no nearby water. Harvey explained that when chalk is ploughed it simply mixes the precious topsoil with the flint and chalk beneath it, an irreversible process, implying that his rewilding is unlikely to ever result in the very rich biodiversity that is usually found in chalk grassland. Harvey’s philosophy is to use natural processes where possible and human intervention where necessary, and then wait and monitor what happens.
Harvey is now some five years into his project and our farm tour firstly took us across a large field previously used to grow malting barley. This is now being allowed to develop into wood pasture, but it is inevitably a slow process. Bramble areas should develop which then provide cover for tree seedlings to establish themselves. Once the trees get large enough to provide significant shade they then shade out the brambles. This is likely to predominantly happen from the edges inwards, as the brambles ‘walk’ in year by year and we certainly witnessed that there is much more change happening along the edges of Harvey’s fields. Several skylarks were singing over this area, clearly approving of what Harvey is doing.
In other areas the farm woodland was unfortunately clear-felled back on the 1960s by the Forestry Commission who were harvesting the timber for profit, but this resulted in loss of habitat for wildlife, and damage to the soil from the machinery used. This was then replanted with Norway Spruce, Corsican Pine and Western Red Cedar. Harvey has, with permission, removed the Norway Spruce and is now allowing that area to regenerate in its own way and we saw plenty of tree saplings emerging from areas of bramble. Any thinning of the Corsican Pines has to be done with official permission and Harvey finds that that officialdom often does not always get what he is doing and why, resulting in some tricky negotiations. In yet another area of the farm we walked along a track through a well established mixed deciduous woodland where the rich botany, and associate insect life, gave a flavour of what the potential is for so much more of this farm.
As the farm is on chalk, any nitrogenous fertilizers applied to the land percolates through the chalk really quickly and it ends up at Bedhampton Springs where water is treated for human use. Removing the nitrates from the water is an expensive process and some of the farm’s income now comes from Portsmouth Water’s Nitrate Intervention Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme, based on the fact that nitrogenous fertilisers are no longer being used. They have also entered into an agreement with Portsmouth Water to re-wild 80 hectares as compensation for some of the ancient woodland lost in the building of the new Havant Thicket Reservoir.
Harvey has some cattle, adding just a little extra fertility to the soil, and they are giving consideration as to whether they can add pigs into the mix which would break up some areas of soil allowing latent seeds to spring into life. The areas the cattle can access is controlled by electronic collars, but there are no such things, as yet, for pigs.
Harvey has redefined his farm as a Wildlife Sanctuary and is clearly enjoying the long journey towards his land reaching its biodiversity potential. Local wildlife groups help with the monitoring of what is appearing, and our group enjoyed seeing deer and identifying wildflowers and butterflies. The really good news is that Harvey has invited us to visit his other farm next year and to return to South Holt in 5 years or so to see what how it has all progressed!
Rewilding will be a developing concept for decades to come. We wish South Holt Farm the best of luck as Harvey develops his own take on the valuable, necessary and fascinating concept of rewilding.