Great Big Green Week

The Great Big Green Week is almost here!

Officially beginning on June 10th, it is the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. During the week, communities, schools, businesses, churches, mosques and more across the country join together in a wave of support for action to protect the planet.

Why Have Green Week?

To understand why Green Week exists it’s useful to understand what Great Britain’s general public think about nature loss, and what they think should be done to turn things around. This is the question asked in a YouGov survey commissioned by Flora & Fauna, in March 2025.
Across all age groups, social demographics and political party allegiances, 70% of people agreed that more should be done to help prevent animals and plants going extinct. Meanwhile, over 93% of respondents said that they thought it is important for children and young people to be taught how they can help to protect nature in schools, and by their parents.
The results showed how much nature means to almost all of us, and that the vast majority of us have an intrinsic desire to do more to save nature. But it also showed how many of those surveyed felt helpless to take action themselves, and that there was an expectation of land custodians (such as The Howe) to do what they could to help.

Playing Our Part

Land management is a very complex area, and practices are ever-evolving. So getting expert advice is crucial. In 2013 The Howe Trust commissioned a ecologist to review the land and put forward recommendations on how it should be managed, for the enjoyment of the community while also helping Wheatley play our part in helping reverse biodiversity loss and tackle climate change.
From 2022 onwards, additional detailed advice has been provided to us from other specialist organisations such as BBOWT, Freshwater Habitat’s Trust, Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and Wild Oxfordshire. One of our trustees is also an ecologist who also specialises in ponds – so we now also have a resident amphibian and reptile expert.
As The Howe is agricultural land, we are members of the NFU and are registered with DEFRA. We have an agreement via their Sustainable Farming Incentive which rewards us financially for ‘doing the right thing’ by nature and gives detailed instructions on how we must carry out the work.

Actions for Nature

Our original 2013 ecologist’s report highlighted how over-grazing and a lack of pro-active nature-positive actions had led to poor biodiversity on the Howe. It suggested a number of ways of tackling this problem – all of which would also create a more rewarding visiting experience for villagers of all ages. These recommendations match those required by DEFRA.

Our actions have included:

• Reducing the grazing intensity on our grassland – using sheep rather than horses, and with fewer animals per hectare. Using a resting and rotation regime to maintain a variety of sward heights and to encourage greater numbers and varieties of wild grasses and flowers. Sheep were also seen as safer than horses or cattle for the general public ie. our walkers and visitors.
• Planting a broader variety of trees and shrubs – choosing species with value to wildlife such as English Oaks, as well as varieties with flowers for pollen, berries and nuts to provide food.
• Renovating our hedgerows – coppicing, gap filling and laying mature hedges as well as planting new native hedge lines to create new habitats and wildlife corridors.
• Creating a source of fresh water for birds and mammals as well as new habitats for aquatic life by creating 3 new wildlife ponds and renovating a seasonal pond.

Our Volunteers

The Howe does not employ individuals or contractors to carry out maintenance or project work on the land. Instead it’s looked after by volunteers who generously give us both their time and expertise. Since 2022 we have recruited over 30 adult regulars of all ages and backgrounds to help us. Outdoor work is very good for our mental and physical health and our volunteers report that they really enjoy meeting and getting to know new people from within the community. We hold twice monthly sessions, fuelled by plenty of piping hot tea and homemade biscuits!
Note: If this sounds like your thing, we’re always looking for more people to join us – no experience or equipment needed, just old clothes and a pair of work gloves. We have tasks for all abilities, including those with limited mobility. Just email us to find out more.

Community Engagement

In addition to our volunteer sessions, young people taking part in the DofE initiative from Wheatley Park School carry out work at weekends, and we also run regular nature activity sessions with the Wheatley Scouts and Brownies organisations.
As well as having a stall at village events such as the Windmill Open Days, we also give talks to local organisations such as the Wheatley Society and Wheatley Gardening Clubs and have linked up with the student Eco Group at Wheatley Park.
Next year, once our ponds are more established, we also hope to run regular educational pond dipping sessions with the nearby pre-school, nursery and primary school children.
By reaching out to our community in this way we hope to encourage more local people of all ages to discover the Howe. We’re hopeful that it will also provide help to parents and our schools to educate and inform children and young people who will then go on to take nature-positive actions for themselves. Something which the respondents to the YouGuv survey very much support.

Visit us

As custodians of 26 acres of land, The Howe Trust is taking part in Green Week.

So we’d love it if you chose this weekend to visit and enjoy Wheatley’s largest community-owned green space – and find out for yourself why it’s such a special place. Dogs are welcome too – we just ask that they are kept on a lead as we have livestock in our paddocks and to prevent them from entering our ponds. (This is because flea and worming treatments are extremely toxic to aquatic life and if dogs paddle in our ponds the chemicals leach into the water meaning there will be no dragonflies, frogs, newts etc for our visitors to enjoy).

You’ll find maps at the entrances to the land, to help you navigate and see the features for yourselves, or you can come along on our guided walk this Sunday 8th June – just meet us at the main Windmill Lane entrance at 3pm.