Our programme, in simple terms, will provide a means of mitigating and reducing the nitrate impact of planned housing, as well as creating new habitats for wildlife.
Our local seas are being suffocated by untenable levels of pollution and we have to find ways of reducing the levels of nitrates entering the Solent. By taking the most polluting land and re-wilding it, not only are we relieving the pressure on our marine environment, but we will also create wonderful wildlife-rich habitat, reducing pollution, capturing carbon and helping nature to recover. We must now ensure that we are creating great places for both people and wildlife to live and thrive.
This nature-based solution works by acquiring intensively managed farmland which is currently releasing nutrients into the Solent, and rewilding it, returning it to natural habitats, such as traditionally grazed meadows, wetlands, or woodlands. Our solution will reduce nitrogen inputs from farming to mitigate and reduce the additional inputs into the Solent arising from new houses – and create new nature reserves to benefit wildlife.
Lianne de Mello
Emma Bradshaw