Lord Montagu outlines raft of environmental efforts at Beaulieu during annual estate dinner

EFFORTS to reduce nitrates, reverse habitat decline and cut emissions have been at the forefront of work at Beaulieu, Lord Montagu told guests at an annual estate dinner.

The meal, traditionally held to mark the end of harvest and the collection of tenants’ rents, takes place within the estate’s striking Domus building, with a menu developed to champion locally produced food, including ingredients from the estate gardens.

Lord Montagu said a range of measures have been taken in partnership with farm tenants to improved septic tanks and sewage treatment plants and modify ditches to create settlement areas.

He said the installation of rainwater harvesting tanks and the creation of reed beds will help capture nitrates before they run into the river.

He continued: “Improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon is also very much on the agenda. Old buildings, especially listed ones, can be difficult to make thermally efficient but we are taking what measures we can as properties are refurbished.

“There are certainly opportunities to fit solar and PV panels to some of our newer buildings and schemes to do this are under active consideration.”

Stating that protecting and expanding the existing salt marshes could help with carbon, Lord Montagu explained that the plants which grow in such places have great potential to capture large amounts of CO2 and incorporate it in the soil.

He said: “We continue to follow our Countryside Stewardship plan for the estate’s woodlands, undertaking several areas of thinning, and some clear fells, prior to replanting.

“We have also established a new area of chestnut, and coppiced other areas, with the aim of making our own chestnut fencing stakes in the future.”

Dinner guests heard that as part of a project led by the national park authority, Beaulieu had recently received Heritage Horizon funding for over a mile of new hedge planting across four sites on the estate.

He cautioned: “I am mindful of the recent warning from Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, that nature is in drastic decline all around us, with 15% of species at risk of becoming extinct.

“It’s a dire situation which we must address in parallel with the climate emergency.”

Turning to larger-scale aspirations, Lord Montagu announced a new partnership between the estate, Natural England and Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to create shingle areas which can support nesting shorebirds.

He said: “The Gravelly Shores Project will be funded by Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, the aim being to boost numbers of threatened wading birds along the Solent coastline.

The project, if approved, will establish four acres of new vegetated shingle on the coastline of the estate which is already home to around 50% of the Solent’s breeding population of ringed plover and an important area for Oystercatchers. It is hoped that the additional shingle habitat will also encourage four species of tern to start breeding here again.

Hailing the work of the Beaulieu-based Countryside Education Trust in raising awareness of the climate emergency, Lord Montagu welcomed the recent completion of the Fort Climate Centre at Home Farm.

He said: “Engaging with more young people on the environment is a priority for the trust; in doing so we have been working with the national park, The Freshwater Habitats Trust, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the Commoners’ Defence Association.”

He said recent successes had included courses on climate change and nature recovery as well as internships for youngsters venturing into farming and environmental education.

This year's guest speaker was Hallam Mills, director of Bisterne Farms and the Environmental Farmers Group.