Deerlands Wildlife Reserve and Rewilding.

45 acres of mixed woodland and traditional hay meadow near Llansoy, Devauden

We are Jane and David Lucas of Ty Craddog Woodlands, Deerlands Wildlife Reserve, near Llansoy, Devauden, on the edge of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We are delighted to become part of the Wye Valley Rewilding Network, and Rewilding Britain.

We have 45 acres of land here, half of which is native broadleaf and mixed woodland. The rest is unimproved pasture, and SSSI traditional hay meadow.

Our main objective is to restore nature here, increase the woodland area, boost biodiversity and encourage the return of native wildlife. We link with a range of neighbouring woodland and unimproved grassland habitats, themselves linking to the Lower Wye Valley nationally important woodlands and river system catchment.

We are also fortunate to have Wentwood Forest in our vicinity, the largest ancient woodland in Wales, which is undergoing transformation by Natural Resources Wales and Woodland Trust, back to the native forest it once was. Linking habitats from Wentwood to Wye Valley woodlands presents a fantastic opportunity. There is already an Usk to Wye habitat linkage initiative being promoted by Gwent Wildlife Trust. Monmouthshire Meadows Group are carrying out vital work, restoring traditional hay meadows, linking adjacent habitats, many in the Lower Wye Valley.

Native species already returning here include red and roe deer, occasional wild boar, polecats, red kites and goshawks.

Pine martens have now been reintroduced in the nearby Forest of Dean, we can expect their spread westward, which long term will hopefully encourage red squirrels. We have plans to reintroduce Eurasian beaver to our woodland streams on our reserve, and Usk / Wye tributaries, if we can get more landowners on board.

Our secondary objective is spreading the rewilding message, encouraging as many landowners and individuals to join the Wye Valley Rewilding Network, restoring nature to as much of our countryside and gardens as possible.

Now is the time to revolutionise nature restoration, on a landscape scale, at this critical time of unprecedented climate change and nature depletion. Rewilding networking is one of the the best ways going forward, to address the combined global crisis facing us all.