Hundreds of young hedge plants are going to be added to land at The Donkey Sanctuary.

3,000 young hedge plants and trees were planted by The Donkey Sanctuary last winter. Hundreds more plants are going to be added to the total this year. 

This project is a partnership between Sidmouth Arboretum and Sidmouth Town Council to plant a tree for each person living in the Sid valley.  

The initiative, which began to help reduce flooding and improve water quality in the Otter Valley, has continued with staff and volunteers planting a mixture of native species to help restore and create new hedgerows at Woods Farm.

Saving Devon’s Treescapes and The Woodland Trust are providing The Donkey Sanctuary with a further 1,000 young hedge plants and trees, which will be planted as part of Sidmouth’s 14,000 Trees project.   

The new hedgerows and trees will provide additional food, shelter and nesting sites for wildlife, as well as offering connectivity across the landscape, allowing animals to move between areas of suitable habitat. 

The trees and hedge plants at The Donkey Sanctuary, which include field maple, hawthorn, downy and silver birch, beech, small-leaved lime, grey willow, and donkey favourite hazel, not only benefit native wildlife and the resident donkeys but also help improve soil health and reduce water run off at the site. 

The sanctuary at Woods Farm is home to around 450 donkeys and a haven to a whole host of native wildlife species. 

Pascal Bisson, Ecology and Conservation Apprentice at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “The new hedges will enhance our land all year round. In summer, they provide our donkeys with shade and woody vegetation to browse. 

“Hedge species such as the blackthorn flowering in spring means a welcome source of nectar and pollen for bees, while their berries feed our winter thrushes. They also provide more suitable habitat for rare farmland birds and the threatened brown hairstreak butterfly.” 

Ed Dolphin, Treasurer of Sidmouth Arboretum, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with The Donkey Sanctuary to plant a wildlife corridor of nearly 1,000 young native trees at Woods Farm.

“The corridor will grow into a highway for all sorts of small creatures, while also providing a shelter belt for the donkeys, and go some way to attenuating run-off from the steep slope in heavy rain – a triple win.”