Woodland creation - Iford Estate, UK

Voluntary Biodiversity Credits

A unique Christmas gift that puts nature first

This project revitalises degraded farmland within the South Downs National Park. The project aims to restore the historic broadleaf woodland - sequestering carbon, increasing biodiversity, and providing a home for over 1,000 native species.

With your sign up details, please enter 'Gift Certificate' in the 'Business Name' section.

Cost

$ 220 /credit

Credits
Iford biodiversity project with gift nature logo

Gift nature this year

Support biodiversity through a gift

If you’re looking for a gift that’s thoughtful, impactful and completely unique, why not give the gift of nature restoration this Christmas?

The South Downs National Park has partnered with Earthly to provide everyone the opportunity to participate in nature recovery.

By purchasing a Biodiversity Credit, you’ll support the creation of new woodland habitats on the iconic Iford Estate, near Lewes, East Sussex. This degraded farmland is being transformed into a thriving landscape for wildlife, creating homes for over 1,000 species, including 540 protected species. It’s a chance to help reverse biodiversity loss and combat climate change, leaving a positive legacy lasting for decades.

Each credit secures a 3x3 metre parcel of land dedicated to nature recovery. The credits are legally guaranteed for 30 years, ensuring your gift has a lasting impact. Every parcel is uniquely mapped using What3Words and formally protected, giving the recipient a direct connection to the protected landscape.

Once purchased, you will receive an e-certificate signed by the CEO of the South Downs National Park. The certificate will show a map with What3Words giving the precise location of your parcel.

This is more than just a gift—it’s securing the future of our planet right here in our beloved local landscape . By funding these projects, you’ll play a part in addressing some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Whether it’s for an individual, a business, or a community group, this is a present that truly makes a difference.

countryside view from Iford biodiversity project

Intervention

Woodland creation

Location

Iford Estate, within the South Downs National Park, UK

Standard / methodology

BNG / DEFRA Metric 4.0

iford partners logos

Project information

The South Downs National Park

The Iford estate woodland creation project operates on degraded farmland within the South Downs National Park near Lewes, Sussex.

The project involves restoring native broadleaf woodland to degraded arable land which has become unproductive and provides little ecosystem services.

Founded in 1895, the Iford Estate started as a dairy farm, with cereals being grown at both Iford and Houndean Farm (where the project is specifically located). The Estate continued to modernise in the 60s and 70s, draining the wet marshland area known as the Brooks, in the Ouse floodplain.

The project has been designed with the wider historic landscape in mind, retaining and enhancing features of the landscape outlined in the South Downs National Park Landscape Character Assessment; as well as providing valuable habitat with the aim of enhancing biodiversity. This project is in line with many of the local targets for the area, helping to achieve the South Downs National Parks' target of 33% of the land managed for nature by 2030.

countryside view from Iford biodiversity project

Project impact

Local impact on nature and people

skylark

Good for earth

The estate is home to over 1000 species and over 540 protected species. The opportunity to increase the amount of good-quality habitat available to the range of species present may increase the abundance of rare species and connect up isolated pockets of good quality habitat. This could also increase the resilience of species on site to factors such as climate change disturbance.

For this reason, the project aims  to increase the woodland cover replicating that found at the local Ashcombe Bottom site, thus increasing connectivity and providing a habitat supporting a variety of species. Ashcombe Bottom provides an important site for nightingales and other important bird species, as well as a number of rare mammal and reptile species, but is an isolated pocket of woodland in the wider landscape.

As a result, the proposed habitat plans for Houndean under this project will provide an important supporting site for the SSSI, and an opportunity for habitat expansion for many of the protected species restricted to the Ashcombe Bottom area. It will also improve carbon sequestration; reduce run-off and nitrate leaching of the site; slow the flow of water through the landscape; add to the retention and build-up of soil organic matter; as well as considerably improving the biodiversity of the area.

Iford Estate map area

Positive for people

Currently, the degraded fields at Houndean Farm do not benefit the community financially, nor through the provision of ecosystem services.

The woodland created by the project will have a variety of positive social impacts including: increasing the availability of clean air; retaining more water to mitigate drought risks; increasing the availability of clean water; reducing the hydrogeological risks associated with heavy rains; have a temperature-regulating effect and, finally; an aesthetic and social function, since the woodland will be open for the public to enjoy through a dedicated footpath.

How we assess for quality

The Earthly scoring process

project infographic