​For 10 years, farmers across 13,500 hectares of southern England coordinated habitat work; one cluster recorded a 346% rise in corn buntings and a 183% rise in butterfly abundance over the decade

Since 1967, corn buntings have declined by 83% in the UK. But over the decade, the bird population around Martin Down, on the Hampshire-Dorset border, has risen by 346%.The red-listed bird is not the only one to benefit. Grey partridges in the same cluster are up 147%. Butterfly abundance has climbed 183%. Turtle doves, barn owls, swifts, harvest mice and brown hares have all benefited. And it has happened on working farmland, run by the farmers and estates that make up the Martin Down Farmer Cluster, at a time when the wider countryside keeps losing species. How? Well, farmers came together, created flower margins and water scrapes, and the neighbouring farms work together to connect these habitats across their land.Two self-funded Farmer Clusters in Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire have recorded substantial increases in several farmland species over 10 years of monitoring. These findings are based on reports on the Martin Down and Allenford Farmer Clusters, supported by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). These two groups together manage more than 13,500 hectares, which is about 1.3 times the size of Paris.

Farmers working together

Most farmers here want to help wildlife. Instead of trying separately, they formed a group called the Farmer Cluster. This group brought neighbouring farmers together to coordinate conservation work across their land.Two Farmer Clusters in southern England were studied for 10 years: the Allenford Farmer Cluster and the Martin Down Farmer Cluster.The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) developed the Farmer Cluster model in 2012. They realised that wildlife does not recognise farm boundaries. So, if one farmer creates a strip of flowers for butterflies and insects, it becomes far more useful when neighbouring farmers create similar habitats that connect with it.The farmers have an experienced facilitator who helped them identify opportunities, coordinate projects and monitor the results. For both of these clusters, that facilitator is Megan Lock, a GWCT senior farm environment adviser. She does much of the monitoring herself, helped by a small team of local volunteers.

Birds and butterflies are returning

The Allenford Farmer Cluster spans Hampshire and Wiltshire. In 2016, there were seven breeding pairs of grey partridges. By spring 2025, that number had risen to 26, a 271% increase. The report also found that butterfly diversity across the cluster went up by 48%. Bumblebee species have increased by 25% over the decade, and surveyors recorded two nationally scarce ones.Martin Down’s butterflies are doing well on another measure too. Species diversity there has risen by 28%, on top of the jump in abundance.The habitat work at Martin Down is easy to count. The cluster now has more than 100 hectares of new grass and flower margins and 50% more wild pollinator habitat. The number of water scrapes for turtle doves has also doubled. The farmers also look after 600 hectares of land to help grey partridges survive and breed, and the gamekeepers handle predation.All these measures have cost the farmers a considerable amount of their own money. Many of the measures also draw on agri-environment schemes, which GWCT points to as proof of how much those payments matter.“It is so encouraging to read the report on our conservation work and see how some species have flourished over the last few years. The cluster group is in great health, the enthusiasm displayed by everyone is contagious and we are looking forward to new ideas and projects that will continue to enhance the biodiversity throughout the area,” Chair of Allenford Cluster and farmer Will Dickson said.“The role of the facilitator is essential. We are lucky to have Megan, who is hugely committed and has built a trusted relationship with all the farmers over the past 10 years. That continuity is invaluable. She can see the opportunities but, crucially, rather than a top-down approach, she is out there delivering coordinated conservation on the ground and measuring the impact. It shows that if you get a determined bunch of farmers focussed on helping a particular range of species with the right facilitator, you can achieve incredible results,” Cathy Shepherd, chair of Martin Down Cluster, said.Lock’s own argument is about land. “I’m so proud of the efforts of two groups of farms and estates who, by working together, have proved that the Farmer Cluster model, combining sustainable agriculture with species recovery, is the solution to tackling the biodiversity crisis. Biodiversity recovery on a national scale will only be achieved with the right support for the farmers who together manage 72% of the UK; nature reserves only cover 8%, so will not be enough on their own. The data gathering through annual surveying and monitoring to produce these reports is essential. There is currently no financial support for monitoring, which I believe should be funded through new schemes. Without it, we can’t see if the measures put in place are worth the effort and investment and, more broadly, the Government won’t know if it’s on track to hit its legally binding targets for nature recovery,” Megan Lock, GWCT Senior Farm Environment Adviser and Facilitator for both Farmer Clusters, said.Nick von Westenholz, the GWCT CEO, said the farmers deserve huge credit for these efforts. “The farmers and Megan deserve huge credit for what is a truly remarkable achievement in the context of continuing species decline across our countryside. Farmer Clusters will continue to be the mechanism to deliver biodiversity and emissions targets, and this will not be possible without facilitators, who should be adequately funded. In many parts of the country, farmers cannot afford to put extra money in and don’t benefit from charitable support. What Megan has achieved proves that continued public funding for the facilitation of both new and established groups like Allenford and Martin Down is critical and represents real value for money.”