Celebrating National Hedgerow Week 2024
This National Hedgerow Week (6th-12th May), we’re proud to announce that we’ve achieved our target of planting 1km of hedgerow across our developments as part of our 5-year Bee Friendly Campaign! National Hedgerow Week is not only a time to celebrate these essential features within our landscapes, but also for reflecting on the crucial role they play in our ecosystem. With the UK having lost 50% of its hedgerows in the past 75 years, it is more important than ever to acknowledge their value and recognise the need to conserve and manage our hedgerows for the future.
Benefits For Wildlife
Hedgerows serve as vital habitats for an array of wildlife, offering food and shelter. Hedgerows facilitate the growth of a variety of flora to support wildlife, such as bramble that offers nectar for pollinators in the warmer months, then produces berries to feed birds in the autumn and winter. Providing connectivity in fragmented landscapes, hedgerows also offer sheltered commuting routes for wildlife between habitats.
Benefits For Soil and Agriculture
Intense rainfall poses a threat to agricultural land by washing away valuable fertile soil. Given that it takes more than 500 years to form just one inch of soil, protecting it is paramount. Hedgerows lining agricultural land serve as a natural defence, effectively reducing soil erosion by standing as a barrier. The deep root systems of hedgerows are a vital aid to soil stabilization, especially during high winds and extensive dry spells.
Benefits For Our Climate
The diversity of vegetation found within hedgerows helps to combat climate change by storing carbon. In addition, hedgerows contribute to healthier soils capable of storing more carbon. When degraded soils begin to erode, they can emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With strong root systems and by covering the land, hedgerows can help to nurture the development of fertile and durable soils.
Considering the importance of our hedgerows, ongoing conservation efforts are crucial for their preservation and the well-being of our ecosystem. Join us in celebrating and committing to protect our hedgerows for current and future generations!
To read more about Meadfleet’s approach to open space management visit our case studies page.
About Meadfleet
Meadfleet are a leading sustainable land-adopting management company. We have in-house ecologists with expertise in the BNG metric and are already applying the principles of Biodiversity Net Gain across our existing open space portfolio in England and Wales. Established in 1995, Meadfleet manage over 330 developments and 42,000 residential properties in our portfolio, with a strong balance sheet.
Meadfleet offers management of Biodiversity Net Gain delivery both on a managed development and on offsite areas, either via customer contributions or commuted sums. Our adoption model relieves developers of ongoing liabilities and management costs.
The Meadfleet model removes onerous liabilities from homeowners yet still encourages their input and engagement into the management of their local environment. We are committed to providing an excellent service to residents as demonstrated by our Excellent rating on Trustpilot and are members of The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPOS), offering customers free, independent redress should they feel it is required. We are happy to work with residents groups and positively encourage the creation of these on the developments we are involved with. We believe this opens an effective two-way dialogue between homeowners and ourselves.
As a land-adopting management company, Meadfleet take long-term responsibility of open space, building customer and community relations and implementing perpetual management and improvement plans. We take a holistic and independent approach to managing areas of open space for the benefit of all residents, biodiversity and the wider environment.