The Great Big Dorset Hedge

The Great Big Dorset Hedge (GBDH) is a long term campaign to facilitate the restoration and extension of hedgerows across all of Dorset.

For the project to happen we need teams of volunteers to help survey the hedgerows of Dorset, and very crucially we require volunteers to collate and manage the mapping of these surveys and the data each survey produces.

Watch our Short Film to hear about the project, volunteering and surveying.

Our Plan:

An overview

• To survey and assess the condition of the vast network of Dorset hedgerows to determine if they can be improved by, for example, hedge laying, planting up gaps, leaving of occasional standards or slight changes to maintenance schedules.

• To work closely with Landowners and Farmers - the all important Custodians of many of Dorset’s Hedges.  Working together we can complete the surveys of these hedges and provide much needed information and resources to ensure improved biodiversity and good practise of hedgerow management.

• To identify where new areas of hedgerow can be planted.

• To create an understanding within the general community of what a healthy hedgerow looks like, the value of hedgerows as a key habitat for wildlife and their importance in providing protection against the effects of climate change.

• To map the survey results as hedges are surveyed and determine recommendations for the hedgerows. Making lasting connections with Landowners.

Our vision:

It may take a generation for it to be achieved but we can imagine a network of connected, well-managed hedgerows, stretching across Dorset, north to south and east to west, so that every community has an opportunity to get involved.

By helping to restore the hedgerow network of Dorset we aim to create vital habitat connections, linking fragmented ecosystems including rural to urban areas where gardens are a vital refuge area for wildlife and a source of biodiversity. This is why we are calling it the Great Big Dorset Hedge.

We want to catch the imagination of people across Dorset, so the campaign takes shape and grows alongside the hedgerow. Imagine gaps or lost connections in a being planted up, in many cases by local tree planting groups with the young and old working side by side, connected by a common desire to see more hedges and trees in Dorset.

We hope the Great Big Dorset Hedge will helping people to feel more connected with the places where they live and work, with nature, and with their communities through a shared scheme that actively helps nature recovery.

📍Dorset-wide