We’re proud to share that we’ve partnered with Wessex Rivers Trust to restore and enhance 200 metres of the Bourne Rivulet, one of Hampshire’s precious chalk streams and a globally rare habitat. Transforming the area from a straight, manmade channel into a thriving ecosystem.
Did you know? The UK is home to 85% of the world’s 200 chalk streams. Protecting them matters.
This project is part of our Second Nature sustainability programme, and these improvements will help create a healthier, more resilient river ecosystem and benefit species like brown trout, kingfishers, reed warblers, water voles, and otters.
What’s happening on the ground?
- Restoring the river’s natural meander
- Adding woody debris and root plates for kingfisher perches and habitat diversity
- Creating gravel berms for fish spawning
- Improving floodplain connectivity for wading birds
- Installing kingfisher nesting burrows
- Planting native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers
- Enhancing river margins for biodiversity and climate resilience
And we’re not stopping there. Next year, we’ll invite our team to join in planting native trees and riverside wildflowers, bringing sustainability to life with hands-on action.
This work builds on the St Mary Bourne site’s impressive portfolio of habitat projects, including:
- Planting a diverse native woodland with the Woodland Trust
- Reintroducing black poplar (the UK’s rarest tree)
- Creating a new chalk stream
This is sustainability made real – on the ground, in the water, and with our people.
