Wood Pasture
We have planted a diversity of tree species within 25ha of fields to created wood pasture for principally shade and shelter for livestock, but also to help improve the biodiversity of our land and also to sequester more carbon.
Agroforestry
We currently have planted heritage fruit trees within a 12ha field for principally the same reasons as our Wood Pasture also to generate an additional crop of, fruit, nuts and timber.
Shelter Belts
In order to help lambing mortality we have planted 20ha of shelter belts across our farms in order to provide shelter. The trees have also been registered for the Woodland Carbon Code (Home – UK Woodland Carbon Code) in our to provide Woodland Carbon Units for potential future insetting or for future sale.
Oaks
The English Oak is the symbol of the farm, being a symbol of strength, longevity and wisdom. We have a collection of over 60 different Oak species across the farm. Once a businesses has been on the farm for a year, we plant a Lopemede Farm Oak to commemorate the business operating on our land.
Ponds
Working with the Newt Conservation Partnership (Newt Conservation Partnership) we have created 5 new ponds on the farm and restore an old ghost pond. Ponds can help us tackle many of the big environmental issues that affect us all: climate change, flooding and pollution. All this, as well as being fantastic for biodiversity.
Ponds support an extraordinary two thirds of all freshwater species, and creating clean new ponds is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect freshwater wildlife.
Wildflower Meadows
We have created 30ha of wildflower meadows using green hay from a local donor site. Wild flower meadows are one of the rarest habitats in the UK and we have lost 97% of our wild flower meadows since the 1930s. Wild flower meadows provide shelter and food for important pollinators including bees. There are over 250 species of bee in the UK and they play a vital part in supporting the ecosystem.