A cornucopia of chalk grassland-loving blooms, bees, butterflies and birds set to benefit.
We’re delighted to share that, after a competitive bidding process, the RSPB will be taking over the management of Wiltshire Council’s Roundbarrow Farm. This will see the transformation of a former intensive dairy farm into a sheep- and cattle-grazed chalk grassland farm and woodland.
Wiltshire is home to roughly half of the UK’s chalk grassland – an internationally important habitat. In the UK, we’ve lost 80% of these grasslands, and the species they support have faced severe declines. The new RSPB Roundbarrow nature reserve will provide a haven for chalkland species and help a variety of birds, including rare Stone-curlews. The move will also help Wiltshire Council to deliver their ambitions for blue and green infrastructure in the area.
The Stone-curlew is a summer visitor to the UK, breeding in small pockets of East Anglia and on Sailsbury Plain. These rare birds rely on dry, open habitats, like chalk grassland, to forage and breed.
After a period of long decline, breeding numbers have doubled since the 1980s thanks to targeted conservation efforts. The RSPB have worked in partnership with farmers in Stone-curlew strongholds to ensure nesting birds on their land are protected. However, numbers are still small, and the creation of specific habitat is crucial for the continued growth of this bird’s population.
These unusual birds belong to a family known as the ‘thick-knees’ – thanks to their large tibio-tarsal ‘knee’ joint (although it’s more like a human ankle).
The habitat restoration will also benefit other declining breeding birds that are commonly associated with farmed landscapes, including Grey Partridges, Skylarks, Corn Buntings, Lapwings and Yellowhammers.
Chalk grassland supports a huge array of plant life such as Sheep’s Fescue, oat grasses, scabiouses, vetches, bellflowers and orchids. Wiltshire's chalk grasslands also support many nationally rare and scarce plant species, such as Early Gentian, Tuberous Thistle, Dwarf Sedge and Burnt-tip Orchid.
The large number of plant species also host lots of different butterflies, including important populations of rare species like Marsh Fritillary, Chalkhill Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper.
RSPB Roundbarrow sits in the internationally protected River Test catchment area. The river – a rare chalk stream – is currently at risk from excess pollutant nutrients. Nitrogen, including that in cattle manure, can enter watercourses after rainfall and can cause damage to river ecosystems. Removing intensive dairy farming and shifting to a lower number of sheep and beef cattle will reduce nutrients entering the water course, helping to protect internationally important chalk streams all the way down to the Solent.
The plans will also help to tackle the nature and climate crisis as the natural regeneration and planting of woodland will help to lock in carbon.
In addition, a new permissive bridleway will be developed through the reserve, connecting Firsdown and Pitton villages for the first time, and there are plans for a new community orchard.
Delighted by the news Patrick Cashman, RSPB Site Manager for the Wiltshire nature reserves, said: “This is a rare opportunity to create a new downland nature reserve from scratch at the former Roundbarrow Farm. We can now begin the process to create flower-rich chalk grassland at scale, which in time will attract and support a cornucopia of chalk-loving blooms, bees, butterflies and birds.
“We will also be able to think about how hedgerows, scrubby edges, woodland and cultivated ground, together with grassland, can interplay for the greatest variety of wildlife. This is an inspirational project Wiltshire Council have embarked upon with the RSPB and presents a fantastic opportunity to put nature back in the countryside.”
RSPB Roundbarrow is between Firsdown and Pitton, to the east of Salisbury and roughly seven miles south of the existing RSPB Winterbourne Downs nature reserve.
