We have some fantastic environmental friendly and sustainable business in the North Devon Biosphere. If you would like to become a Biosphere Business Partner, you can register on our new website page here.

The Chalet in Croyde

The Chalet in Croyde has pledged to: Create a wildlife garden which includes careful planting to encourage insects throughout the year, the creation of a small pond, 'wilderness' areas for habitat (long grass, log piles etc) and insect 'hotels'. There is a large bank/verge on the edge of the property which borders a green lane (Milkaway Lane). We have been planting wildflowers there for some years, but hope to expand the area this year. We plan to cover it in a mixture of annual and perennial wild flowers. Milkaway Lane is a footpath and bridleway so as well as being a haven for wildlife, we hope passers by will enjoy the flowers and be encouraged to do something similar themselves.

Update from Feb 2021: We are progressing with our plans to increase habitat for insects and other wildlife. The wilderness and wild flower areas last year were a real success. We have resisted cutting everything back to make it neat for the winter, and have seen lots of birds visiting seed heads which has been a real joy. I planted more wildflower seeds last autumn and have some more ready to go as soon as it warms up a bit! We are very conscious of our plant choices in the garden,and have been amazed that something so simple can make such an extraordinary difference to insects and birds. Last spring (during lock-down 1!), we also created a smallwildlife pond from an up-cycled old bath! It was amazing how quickly wildlifefound it. It's maturing nicely and we hope to see amphibians this year.

Chalet in Croyde Website

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Wheatland Farm eco-lodges

Pledge to: Manage our 21 acres for wildlife, aiming always for net gain and expand our reed beds by creating and managing new 'scrapes', and by using 'grey water' to help maintain them. We will also be installing a number of bird boxes. Photos taken from Wheatland Farm website.

They've written more about their #pledgefornature and the brilliant work they do on their site on their blog:

https://www.wheatlandfarm.co.uk/2021/01/25/lodge-nature-award-winner/

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Holt Wood Herbs

We have transformed a redundant small conifer plantation at Holt Wood into a thriving project on medicinal trees and shrubs. We aim to support biodiversity alongside sustainable herbal harvests.

http://mfgt.org/

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