Hutchinson’s Bank

To enhance areas of Hutchinson’s Bank Nature Reserve by restoring chalk grassland habitat from semi-mature scrub, thereby benefiting important plant and invertebrate species and making it a more attractive site for visitors.

Hutchinson’s Bank has suffered scrub encroachment over decades and management objectives are now set on targeting prioritized clusters of young and semi-mature scrub in order to increase the area under grassland management regimes. Manual clearance of a number of key scrub tracts is essential to prepare the conditions for mowing and future grazing by the Trust’s partner the Old Surrey Downs Project (OSDP), which already manages mobile grazing livestock on a few other chalk grassland sites in the area. It will also help to enhance the habitat space for a number of species for which Hutchinson’s Bank is important, especially small blue butterfly, marbled white, and pyramidal and man orchids.