Woodland
Regeneration
Project
Background
At the beginning of a rewilding journey, land needs both time and a range of interventions to kickstart natural recovery. Over decades of intensive land use and in the absence of natural predators, deer have thrived, sometimes to the detriment of young plants and trees. Without action, this imbalance can prevent the regeneration of key habitats and disrupt the delicate natural processes that support a healthy landscape.
The Heal Somerset woodland regeneration project is our way of addressing this challenge, protecting vulnerable areas so that nature can recover and flourish. This is a temporary intervention to allow the natural regeneration of scrub plants like hazel, hawthorn, bramble and dog rose, and tree species including young oaks, aspen and willow. It will also provide long-term benefits by enhancing biodiversity.
A survey of Heal Somerset by the British Deer Society at the end of 2024 found a high deer population. If we want our regenerating trees and scrub to flourish, we need to establish a reliable means of controlling deer numbers.
Our goal is to significantly reduce the deer browsing pressure on new vegetation growth and to achieve this, we will be enclosing a 71ha section of the Heal Somerset site - the Southern Fields - with long-term, but not permanent, perimeter fencing. In the future, the deer fence could be removed once young plants and trees have become sufficiently well established. Deer can still access the remainder of our site.
What has happened
In spring/summer 2025, replaced the existing stock fencing in the Southern Fields with new, taller fencing to deter deer from entering the area. There will be new pedestrian gates at either end of the public footpath that crosses through the Heal site, and there will be new gates as you enter the site. From a distance, the tall hedges should help to camouflage the new fence line in the environment.
We are grateful to have secured funding to deliver this project from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks as part of the Projects For Nature programme.
Considerations
When considering how to best manage this project, we focused on a solution that would help the land to regenerate whilst reducing the impact on other species on site. We have consulted with our Land Management Advisory Group, as well as specialists and ecologists, on how best to design the perimeter fencing. This wide range of input has helped us to design, specify and deliver the project to the highest standards. Our contractor is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in working on nature-friendly sites, which is why we felt confident in selecting the company.
The fence will be 1.8m tall, made from 15cm x 15cm galvanised steel mesh and supported by mixed FSC-certified untreated wooden posts, so there is no danger of chemicals leaching into the site. The chosen posts will have a long lifespan, which means reduced maintenance and disturbance to the hedges in future years.
Our main concern is to ensure that other species can continue to cross the fenceline and that their habitat is not damaged by it. The size of the mesh is small enough to exclude deer but big enough to allow safe passage for smaller mammals. To ensure that badgers can continue to move into and out of the site, we are installing specially designed badger tunnels where animal paths cross the fenceline, with the help of the Somerset Badger Group. Other species are also expected to use these tunnels. For beavers and otters, appropriate specialist gates will be designed and installed on river access routes.
Benefits
There are many benefits to reducing deer numbers in our Southern Fields including:
Allowing natural woodland to regenerate
Bolstering the chance of trees survival, due to the long-term nature of the project, which will enable trees to grow beyond the damage-vulnerable stage (usually 5 – 15 years but up to 30 years)
Protecting our baby oaks, over five hundred of which are on the site. A single oak tree can live up to 1,000 years and support more biodiversity than any other British plant
Promoting growth of shrubs and undergrowth which will protect saplings
Creating habitat for wildlife as native plants have a chance to establish themselves
Preventing of soil degradation and increased water filtration
Eventually sequestering carbon from the development of woodland