Wimpole estate records over 5,000 species despite drought
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The National Trust documented over 5,200 species of wildlife on the Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, England, despite ongoing drought conditions and regional habitat loss.
General manager David Hassall noted the high number was surprising given the pressures on wildlife in the East of England, an area recently designated as being in drought. The estate’s parkland, farmland, woodland and wetlands all contributed to the diversity, including sightings of rare species like barbastelle bats, great crested newts and corn buntings.
The National Trust attributes this abundance to 50 years of careful land management. Since 2021, the organization planted 125,000 trees and created 35 hectares of new woodland, along with 52 hectares of wood pasture, and is planning to plant another 77 hectares. Ben McCarthy of the National Trust emphasized the importance of long-term, landscape-scale habitat restoration for reversing wildlife decline across the UK, pointing to Wimpole Estate as an example of successful nature recovery.
