Projects / Cossall Land Restoration
A proposed land purchase and restoration project in Cossall, Ilkeston, Derbyshire.
The Foundation’s first live project is the proposed acquisition and restoration of approximately 46 acres of land: around 8 acres of woodland and 38 acres of grassland, with the aim of restoring meadow, repairing habitats, and rewilding the landscape toward woodland recovery over time.
The opportunity
An early chance to secure and restore land with long-term ecological value.
This project centres on a proposed land purchase at Cossall, Ilkeston, Derbyshire: approximately 8 acres of current woodland and 38 acres of grassland. The intention is to secure the land and begin a staged process of meadow restoration, habitat repair, and rewilding toward woodland recovery.
In broad terms, the vision is to help return the land toward a healthier ecological state, recognising that around a century ago it would have held a very different relationship with woodland, hedgerow, and living systems than it does now.
Acquisition target
Approximate purchase cost for the land, plus associated fees and acquisition costs.
Restoration target
Approximate funding required for planting, seeding, machinery, hedgerow repair, ecological works, tree care, habitat restoration, and practical delivery.
What the work involves
Restoration requires more than purchase alone.
Securing the land is only the first step. The wider task includes wild meadow development, tree planting, seeding, machinery and equipment for land works, fencing and post removal, dead tree management, replanting, deadwood regeneration for insect habitats, hedgerow repair, and selective border planting including poplar and cherry blossom trees.
This is intended as a serious ecological improvement project rather than a surface-level intervention. It requires practical work, patient recovery, and public support to move it forward properly.
What support helps fund
Public donations help turn a land opportunity into real restoration.
The Foundation is seeking public help not only to secure the land, but to fund the work needed to restore it. This is where donations become practical. They help move the project from aspiration into ecological action.
Land acquisition
Helping secure the woodland and grassland as the first protected and restored Foundation project site.
Meadow and woodland recovery
Wild meadow restoration, long-term rewilding, and woodland return supported by planting, regeneration, and habitat design.
Hedgerows and boundaries
Repairing hedgerows, replanting where needed, increasing thickness where possible, and strengthening ecological boundaries.
Tree and habitat work
Tree surgery, deadwood recovery for insect habitat, replanting, and wider ecological restoration works across the site.
Why this matters
One real project can help demonstrate what the Foundation stands for.
Cossall is important not only because of the land itself, but because it creates a real-world opportunity to show how stewardship, transparency, ecological repair, and public support can work together.
It is exactly the kind of project that helps turn the Foundation from a structured long-term vision into visible and measurable work on the ground.
Transparency
Public support should be matched by visible reporting and progress.
The intention is to provide public visibility around funding, progress updates, restoration activity, and campaign awareness as this project develops.
The aim is not simply to request support, but to show clearly what support is helping make possible across acquisition, restoration, and long-term ecological recovery.
How you can help
Support, share, and help build momentum.
Donations are one of the clearest ways to help this project move forward. But public sharing matters too. Visibility can help bring wider awareness, support, and aligned interest to the project and the wider Foundation mission.