Nidderdale-based habitat creation company Make it Wild begins national expansion

Founders of Make it Wild, Christopher and Helen Neave, set up their enterprise in response to the UK’s ever-deepening ecological crisis, that has seen wildlife numbers plummet 70% since 1970.

They began creating new nature reserves in 2010, when they first acquired unproductive agricultural land, with the aim of restoring it for nature.

Their focus is entirely on habitat creation, and this includes bringing back wildflower meadows, restoring wetland and planting new woodland, with more than 60,000 trees planted over the last 12 years.

Make it Wild now looks after nine sites in North Yorkshire.

Mr Neave said: “We are starting to make a difference because, apart from the work we and our volunteers are doing on the ground, the message is also getting out there that nature’s in trouble and needs help now”.

That message has reached as far as Norfolk and the Peak District in Derbyshire.

Two landowners have contacted Make it Wild with their shared vision for nature’s recovery.

Both were looking for a way they could concentrate their efforts restoring their land but, at the same time, generate an income to support their work. Make it Wild was the answer.

It has a strong record of attracting business partners, who help fund the projects and, in return, achieve their own sustainability objectives, which can include biodiversity gain or carbon offsetting.

Victoria Holt is the owner of a beautiful site in rural Norfolk, near the village of Hingham, rich in grasslands, fruit trees and over a mile of mature hedgerow.

She is dedicating her time and space to enhancing the local biodiversity.

She said: “There is nothing more satisfying than giving homes to the creatures with which we share our planet.

"So much has been lost, which makes this, and all Make it Wild projects, so vital.”

Allan and Martin Waller, inherited over 120 acres of former sheep grazing near Buxton and have set about creating a new, native broadleaf woodland, by planting nearly 12,000 trees over the next few months.

This will connect to existing trees and make a nature corridor along the river valley.

They also have plans for re-wetting an area, a nature lake and restoring meadows.

“It was always the wish of our late father that woodland would be planted on the land. Make it Wild has meant we can now realise these dreams”said Allan.