BACKGROUND

Natural England is the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, helping to protect England’s nature and landscapes for people to enjoy.  Established in 2006 their purpose is help conserve, enhance and manage the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations.  They aim to achieve this through the building partnerships for Nature’s recovery.   

Given our own love of the outdoors and nature we were thrilled when we were approached by Natural England to share their story of a new purchase of Land in Hertfordshire that would create a new super National Nature Reserve (NNR).

THE CHALLENGE

The purchase of the 586 acre site presented Natural England with an opportunity to partner in the restoration of the North Chilterns Landscape.  The site is currently degraded by intensive shooting, limited biodiversity and accessibility.  However, it’s adjacent to existing NNRs and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and, located close to the urban edge of Luton, provides a wonderful opportunity to engage with diverse communities that have otherwise been difficult to reach.  

By partnering and developing accessible trails for informal recreation, the hope is the site could become a ‘North Chilterns NNR”, including SSSI land and enhanced wildlife-rich areas. 

In order to achieve this,  Natural England wanted to engage with the local community to share the reasons behind this purchase, and engage with local farmers and land owners to offer collaboration about the future plans for the land and to ease any worries they may have when it comes to new land purchases of this scale.

How we helped 

It’s always a challenge to create a video for something that is, at this stage, simply a vision.  Given that the land at Hexton has been private use only for decades and used for commercial shooting, we knew that there was likely to be some pockets of local resistance, with people worried about how the land will be used and how it might change over time.   We knew that one of the best ways to paint a vision for the future, and engage potential partners and collaborators was to create the story of the future.  

With the help of Natural England’s Senior Reserve Manager, Holly Bilcock, Justin Tilley, one of Natural England’s senior advisers and a local family who had walked in, and enjoyed the local area for decades, we set about articulating the vision for the future of this land.  Capturing the beauty of the land on camera and utilising a local family to describe their love of the land and the percieved benefits of the land purchase for them, coupled with the technical elements from Natural England staff, we were able to create some stunning videos explaining why the land was purchased and raising awareness of the important conservation work that Natural England undertakes and how this land would be used to achieve that aim.

By delivering a series of promotional videos of different durations Natural England have been able to use their media across social media, newsletters to local residents, at partnership events and on their YouTube channel allowing for wide reach across the UK.