South Downs National Park & Maves

Maves works in partnership with the South Downs National Park, sharing at local level its goals to understand, conserve and enhance the special qualities of our landscape.

The National Park boundary limits the Park to our woodland and some fields, and does not include the whole of the Maves area.  This is perhaps surprising, for an area of such conservation and landscape interest.  Environmentally the whole area could have qualified for inclusion - the rare flushed fen habitat of the secluded Binsted and Tortington rife valleys with their grazing marshes, and the more open watermeadows east of the Arun, were assessed by environmental organisations to meet the standards for natural beauty.  However because parts of the area only have limited recreational access, and also because of the uncertainties surrounding the Arundel Bypass, and the political decision to exclude the town of Arundel; the boundary was pushed northwards.

Nevertheless the whole Maves area is relevant and important to the National Park, whether within its boundary, or, forming a very important part of its setting in the dip slope and estuarine coastal plain.  Wildlife, and people, go to and fro between its open countryside and its woodland - the wildlife to meet their mixed habitat needs, the people for their recreational or business needs.  Long views in the landscape mean that the quality of experience of the National Park is dependent on the environment of all of the Maves area.

So, we naturally depend on our National Park rangers for advice and support, and they look to us to achieve more in the local area than they could do without us.  The National Park can sometimes help financially: as for example it has funded some of our dormouse survey boxes.  We are fortunate in our skilled and energetic local rangers: Simon Mockford and Sam Buckland.

One way in which the National Park Rangers have helped to enhance the landscape and habitat value of our area is by introducing their expertise in hedge laying - click here to read about it.

Another is by collaborating on our Dormouse project - click here to read about it.