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The Sinodun Hills Project seeks to substantially increase the wildlife habitat value of the Wittenham Clumps, a European designated and much-visited Special Area of Conservation in Oxfordshire, by extending species-rich grassland into the surrounding farmland. The project will directly improve and extend habitats for a number of rare species found on the site including skylarks, pipistrelle bats, hornet robber flies and great crested newts.
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The Sinodun Hills Project uses a landscape approach to conservation, by taking an existing site of high conservation value - the Wittenham Clumps - and extending semi-natural habitats outwards from it into the surrounding working landscape. The project will also capitalise on the Clumps’ prominent and popular location in Oxfordshire’s ‘cultural landscape’, capturing the attention and enthusiasm of local communities. The work, involving local communities, will extend species-rich grassland into the surrounding farmland. This will be achieved through grazing with native hardy breeds of cattle and sheep, implementing suitable hay-cutting regimes, turf removal and reseeding, broadcasting wildflower seed collected from elsewhere, green hay spreading and plug planting. If immediate action is not taken to restore species rich grassland at the Clumps, it is likely that existing pockets of species rich habitat will gradually decline and could disappear forever. Chances for restoration on this scale don’t happen often, the Trust is seeking to grasp the opportunity and needs your help. The project will run over a two-year period, with crucial monitoring taking place in years three and four. The total cost of the project is £126,118. The Trust has secured £90,912 in biodiversity match funding for the project and now seeks the remaining £35,206 to enable the important work to go ahead.