1. Scope and aims
This Policy applies to land and water bodies owned, managed, or stewarded by the HEADTURNED Foundation. It guides decisions about habitat creation, restoration, rewilding, and long-term management, including how these interact with Sanctuary, Innovation Hub, and Vertical Farming activity.
Our aim is to create connected, resilient ecosystems that support a wide range of species, store carbon, improve soil and water health, and provide space for people to experience a living, recovering landscape.
2. Principles of restoration and rewilding
Our habitat work is guided by a small set of core principles:
- Ecological integrity – focusing on whole systems, not just individual species or isolated features.
- Native and appropriate species – prioritising locally appropriate native species and avoiding harmful introductions.
- Connectivity – creating corridors and stepping stones that allow species to move across the landscape.
- Low-intervention over time – allowing natural processes to take over as systems mature, while staying ready to respond to genuine threats or imbalances.
3. Baseline assessment & long-term planning
Before major habitat changes are made, we seek to understand:
- existing habitats and species, including any protected or priority species;
- soil, hydrology, and other physical characteristics of the site; and
- historic land use, pressures, and opportunities for restoration or rewilding.
Restoration plans are designed on multi-year timescales, recognising that meaningful ecological recovery often takes decades. Plans are revisited in light of monitoring data and changing conditions.
4. Habitat mosaics & structural diversity
We aim to create and maintain a rich mosaic of habitats—such as woodland, scrub, grassland, wetland, riparian zones, and deadwood features—rather than a single uniform landscape.
Structural diversity (for example, varied vegetation heights, edges, and microhabitats) supports a wider range of species and can improve resilience to climate impacts, pests, and disease.
5. Species introductions, grazing & population management
Any introduction or reintroduction of species—whether plants, invertebrates, or vertebrates—is considered carefully and, where required, carried out under appropriate licences and with expert input. Non-native or invasive species are not introduced and are managed in line with legal and ecological guidance.
Grazing, browsing, and other natural disturbance processes may be used to shape habitats, for example through carefully managed livestock or semi-wild herbivores where lawful and appropriate. Population management is only undertaken where there is a clear conservation or welfare justification and in line with the Foundation's ethical commitments and relevant law.
6. Water, soils & climate resilience
Habitat restoration includes work to:
- re-wet or re-naturalise watercourses and wetland areas where feasible;
- protect and rebuild soil structure and organic matter; and
- increase resilience to drought, flooding, and other climate-related pressures.
We avoid practices that compact soil, degrade water quality, or increase runoff and erosion. Where vertical farming or other built infrastructure exists, its design should support, not undermine, surrounding ecosystem function.
7. People, access & land use
Public access is important, but it must be balanced with the needs of wildlife and sensitive habitats. Trails, viewpoints, and quiet zones are planned so that people can experience the landscape while minimising disturbance, particularly around breeding sites or fragile ecosystems.
Where activities such as education, filming, or events take place on restored land, they are designed and timed to respect ecological priorities, and are managed in line with relevant Foundation policies (including Safeguarding and Environmental Sustainability).
8. Monitoring, adaptation & learning
Habitat and species monitoring is integral to this Policy and is carried out in line with our Monitoring, Research & Public Engagement Policy.
Management approaches are adapted over time in response to evidence. If a particular intervention is not delivering the expected benefits—or is causing unintended harm—we are prepared to change course.
9. Partnerships & the wider landscape
The Foundation's land is part of a wider ecological network. We therefore work with neighbours, local communities, conservation bodies, and authorities to align restoration efforts beyond our boundaries wherever possible.
Sharing knowledge, data, and practical experience—through partnerships, open publications, or training—forms part of our commitment to landscape-scale recovery.
10. Review & governance of this Policy
This Policy is reviewed periodically and whenever there are significant changes in law, guidance, or the Foundation's conservation strategy. Updated versions will be published on this page.
Questions, concerns, or suggestions about habitat restoration work can be raised through our usual contact routes or, where appropriate, under the Complaints & Feedback Policy.