Hedgerow Planting Project with Cotswold Canals Connected

We will work with landowners to improve habitat connectivity in the wider countryside through the planting of 4km of native species-rich hedgerows.

Hedgerows will be planted strategically to improve habitat connectivity by linking isolated areas of hedgerow and woodland and providing ecological corridors across the landscape.

These hedges will improve the permeability of the landscape and allow wildlife to move across it more easily, allowing them to become more resilient to future change. In addition, the hedges will create natural soft boundaries between land parcels and provide stock proofing to control and limit where grazing can occur.

In addition to benefits for wildlife, hedgerows capture and store carbon both in the woody growth and within the soil itself (a new hedgerow may store 600-800kh of CO2 equivalent per year per km, for up to 20 years) and, as a result, the Climate Change Committee have recommended a 40% increase in hedges to help the UK achieve Net Zero by 2050.

Get involved

If you want to get your hands dirty, why not volunteer for our Hedgerow Planting project, in partnership with Cotswold Canals Connected, planting 4km of hedgerows. Find out more on the link below and register your interest by emailing us info@cpreglos.org.uk 

Part of a wider project

This is part of a wider project by Cotswold Canals Connected, restoring vital sections of derelict canal to reconnect Stroudwater Navigation with the UK’s waterways, creating one of the largest biodiversity corridors.

The project will re-connect local communities in the Stroud Valleys, Stonehouse, Gloucester and Severn Vale with one of England’s important industrial mill areas. It will create important social, economic and cultural regeneration for all communities.

Restoration of 6km of historic canal paves the way for the only East-West inland national waterways connection in Southern England.

A brief history of the Stroudwater Navigation

Watch this short video about the history of the Stroudwater Navigation which was once a bustling trade route.

This video was made by Jimmy Fletcher Photography. Jimmy is one of our photography volunteers.