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The
collapse of agricultural profitability
between 1996
and 2006 had a dramatic impact on the Knepp
Estate and led us to make very significant
changes in the way we looked at and managed
our land. We decided the time had come to
abandon the way we had farmed for many
decades. It was sad to change our farming
practice after so many generations (see Farming),
but exciting new opportunities have opened
up in the arena of land regeneration,
wildlife conservation and educational
facilities – as well as allowing us to put
into practice new ways of meat production.
This has been and continues to be is an
invigorating and challenging way forward for
us.
The
projects we have already embarked upon and
that we are planning for the future are
taking the Estate into a pioneering position
in ecological land management. We are
designing these projects to explore
alternative ways by which unproductive
ex-agricultural land such as ours can be
looked after at a low cost while conferring
considerable benefits on the landscape value
and wildlife of the British countryside. At
the same time, we have to ensure that the
Estate is economically viable. We are producing high quality beef,
pork and venison (see Home
Grown web link) and are
constantly reviewing other ways to bring in
income. We are working towards
sustainability and to ensure that our
economically successful projects support
rather than conflict with our conservation
projects.
Historic
Park Restoration
The
first of these projects – the restoration
of 750 acres of the old park designed by
Humphrey Repton around the house – started
in 2001 and saw the introduction of fallow
deer, Exmoor ponies. Old English longhorn
cattle and Tamworth pigs as part of the new
ecological grazing system. This has been
followed by the extension of the grazing
system by an additional 750 acres north of
the A272 in 2005.
The
restoration of the park was so successful
that it encouraged us to consider turning
over most of the Estate to a similar grazing
system. This has become known as the
Wildland Project
(see
some photos).
As
part of the Wildland Project we are studying
key species of existing flora and fauna on
the Estate so we can have a record of what
happens to populations and distribution with
the new grazing system in place. A
baseline survey was carried out in 2005 baseline
weblink,
and there is an ongoing programme of surveys
and research. (see
the June 2007 Owl ringing results).
An
exciting aspect of the Wildland Project is
the ‘re-wilding’ of the River Adur –
allowing the river to return to its natural
meanders after three centuries of being
directed into a canal. This will
return the old water lags to a natural flood
plain system and, we anticipate, encourage a
much richer diversity of wildlife and
plants.
Knepp
Mill Pond, also known as Knepp Lake, is a
stunning feature of the Estate but is in
imminent danger of silting up entirely.
Within the next ten years we hope to extract
some of the silt that has built up over the
past four centuries, thus preserving at
least 30 acres of open water and a habitat
for the profusion of resident and visiting
water-birds and associated wildlife.
Black
Poplar (populus nigra subsp betulifolia)
In Britain
there are thought to be about 7,000 black
poplars left and out of this number only
perhaps as little as 600 of them are female.
This makes this native tree one of the most endangered
tree species. At Knepp we have over 250
acres of floodplain that may be suitable for
this riparian species. We also have our
Tamworth pigs. One of the reasons sited for
the decline in this wonderful tree is the
lack of open ground needed for the seed to
set in. Perhaps one of the missing ingredients
is the rootling of the pig?
Knepp has
been planting cuttings and saplings for the
last 3 years (2007) from cuttings
taken from 26 trees being grown in the nursery
at Wakehurst Place. If you would like to
know more on this project click on (Black
Poplar - Species Action Plan for Sussex pdf
967KB)
An area
of the estate that has been allowed to
"scrub up" - 15 years ago - this area was dairy pasture now
it has ant hills half a meter high.
The ploughed strip to the right of the
picture was sown with wild bird seed cover
in 2006 - predominantly
planted with quinoa and sorghum. An
experiment that will probably not be repeated.
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