Our vision

At the Countryside Restoration Trust we know wildlife is essential to good farming. Our farms and properties use a mix of traditional and innovative new methods so wildlife is welcomed, encouraged, and given a new home.

We have many hard-working tenant farmers and a growing number of committed volunteers restoring areas of our land to thriving landscapes where flora and fauna flourish.

We teach current and future generations about the importance of conserving our natural world and show others how we can all make a positive impact.

The Countryside Restoration Trust was established in 1993 by our Chairman, Robin Page and the late artist and conservationist, Gordon Beningfield.

Our initial aim was to buy intensively farmed land with declining wildlife numbers so that we could restore it to create a living countryside. As the Trust has grown, our aims have broadened to encompass purchasing farmland and woodland where traditional farming methods, wildlife habitat and biodiversity are under threat. We create a working countryside using sensitive and sympathetic farming practices that encourage and protect wildlife and produce high-quality produce.

CRT farmers pay rent (commercial conservation rates) that’s set at a level to allow them to farm in a wildlife friendly way.

Much like grants from Government or EU conservation schemes, this varies and is dependent on how farmers to choose to help nature – whether by reducing fertiliser use, cutting grass-for-hay late in the season, or replenishing livestock at a reduced rate.