Wildlife campaigners buy Derbyshire farm to return it to nature

A Derbyshire farm is to be turned over to nature after being bought following a fundraising campaign.

More than 2,000 members of the public backed a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust project to buy a farm near Belper.

Donations of almost £300,000 were added to private and charity contributions to pay for Common Farm in Nether Heage.

The 83-acre site will now be rewilded – where places like parks, golf courses and farmland are encouraged to return to a more natural state.

The trust plans to create “a mosaic of habitats” at the Spanker Lane site including grasslands, scrub and woodland, with water retained on site wherever possible.

It is hoped it will attract kestrels, woodpeckers and warblers, bumblebees and butterflies, and summer flowers to its meadows.

The trust says it is now excited to start working with the community to develop the site as a great place for people and nature “for generations to come”.

Jo Smith, chief executive of the trust, said: “Making more space for nature at Common Farm will give wildlife the chance to recover here, and once regenerated it will store more carbon, help store more water to reduce local flooding and help trap nutrients that leach into our river systems. 

“The purchase is also great news for local residents and visitors, who will be able to continue to enjoy the area, and to see it become richer for nature in the years to come.”