The vision for Maple Farm is a thriving diversity of habitats in keeping with the natural ecology of the area, providing a haven for plants, insects, birds, and mammals. A mix of scrub, woodland, grassland, and riparian and wetland will be encouraged through natural regeneration, enrichment planting and other interventions, taking an experimental approach to encourage nature’s return.
The project will follow the key principles of rewilding - aiming to restore natural processes to facilitate the return of biodiversity. Where possible, Youngwilders will use a hands-off approach to encourage, observe and record natural processes returning. Smaller rewilding projects like Maple Farm, however, differ from the approach that can be taken at large sites like Knepp and Wild Ken Hill. A greater degree of intervention is required to kickstart and mimic the processes on a smaller site that would occur naturally at a landscape scale. Well-targeted interventions in the initial phase, and light-touch management of the site thereafter, will be necessary to achieve our habitat enhancement aims on Maple Farm.