Nature Recovery at Allestree Park

Restoring natural processes through rewilding and community action

We are working hard to create good quality habitat at Allestree Park, by following rewilding principles and putting nature in the driving seat to reinstate natural processes (events that help shape our environment, without human intervention). To enable nature to lead its recovery, we are kickstarting certain natural processes such as hydrology, by carrying out some initial habitat interventions.

To help us with these initial interventions, we are exploring ways to re-introduce key species known as ecosystem engineers. These are species that significantly influences its environment for the better, also helping other species thrive. When it is not possible to re-introduce the species, we are working with the local community to mimic the species behaviour.

Watch the video below to see some of the interventions we carried out on the Grasslands at Allestree Park over the summer of 2025.

Wildflower Meadows - Allestree Park (https://youtu.be/zKrIpNRFHdc?si=8dVVbRojC2KCuiFz)

How are we kickstarting natural processes at Allestree Park?

Hydrology

By allowing the movement and distribution of water at Allestree Park to flow naturally, we can sustain habitats, regulate flooding and maintain water quality. Previously water was drained away from Allestree Park due to the golf course, now the drains have become blocked, and water is beginning to lie naturally on the site. Excitingly, ephemeral (seasonal) pools have formed on site, providing an excellent habitat for many invertebrates and amphibians.

Additionally, we have been mimicking beavers by creating leaky dams along some of the brooks to slow the flow and create wetter habitat for wildlife to use.

See what our ‘beavers’ have got up to

Soil Health

Healthier soils are able to store more carbon, hold more water and therefore filter the water more effectively and facilitate the cycling of nutrients. These services reduce flooding, improve resilience during drought conditions and will enable the soil to support a diverse microbial and plant community.

At Allestree Park, we are monitoring soil health by investigating soil infiltration rates, earth worm counts and surveying the changes to the microbial and plant community overtime to see how the rewilding impacts them all. We are also comparing the communities of the species-rich grasslands in the A6 fields to the golf course, to investigate how the different management of these grasslands has affected their soil health.

Nutrient Cycling

Nutrient cycling happens when dung - dead plants and animals - break down into the soil, providing nutrients that help plants grow and then in turn supports the rest of the food chain. This process can be increased by dung beetles and a diverse plant community with deep root systems.

At Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, we are monitoring our dung beetle population and excitingly have found that the Minotaur Dung Beetle is present at Allestree Park. This beetle boosts nutrient cycling by breaking down rabbit dung more efficiently, enriching the soil and storing more carbon. We are now working to improve habitat for them to increase their populations.

Herbivory

Wild herbivores have been shaping our landscapes for millennia. Many key herbivores are either globally extinct - such as Aurochs, Europe’s original wild cattle - or are no longer present or as widespread as they used to be in the UK - such as Wild Boar, Elk and Bison.

Grazing animals such as cattle and ponies shape vegetation patterns, create habitats and drive ecosystem dynamics by selectively grazing the land. They can create bare ground areas through dust bathing, graze scrub to ensure a mosaic of habitats thrive by balancing out natural succession and they provide dung to aid nutrient cycling.

At Allestree Park, certain areas of the site are grazed to reinstate this natural process, and the community have also been mimicking certain grazers with Be a Wild Pony and Be an Auroch events.

Natural Disturbance

This can be disturbance to the soil, or damage to trees. This natural process can happen in a variety of ways including storm damage or disturbance by large herbivores such as cattle and bison. Disturbing the soil results in bare ground creation, a great successional habitat for invertebrates to nest in or bask on and an opportunity for regeneration of new plants. Damage to trees can speed up tree veteranisation which creates decaying deadwood. This decaying deadwood can provide a habitat for deadwood invertebrates, birds such as Willow Tits and Woodpeckers, bats and fungi; boosting biodiversity.

We have been mimicking this natural process with the community with Be a Boar and Be a Bison days. Additionally, any deadwood that has fallen due to natural disturbance is now being left at Allestree Park for fungi and deadwood invertebrates to use but also to help support another natural process, nutrient cycling.

Natural Regeneration and Succession

Plants naturally recolonise and then succeed each other over time, creating habitat complexity that supports a range of wildlife. Our rewilding approach at Allestree Park is allowing species to naturally grow and we have seen a huge increase in the number of tree saplings emerging. Herbivory naturally balances succession to ensure there is a mosaic of habitats.

We are monitoring this regeneration and succession at Allestree Park to see how the site changes over time.

Whether it’s installing leaky dams, increasing the amount of deadwood on site or looking at the recovery of Willow Tits and other key species, the community will have the chance to be actively involved every step of the way! Many of these priorities have been captured in the 2026 timeline and we’re eager to provide even more opportunities for action throughout the rest of the project and beyond.

Explore 2026 events and opportunities at Allestree

Monitoring at Allestree Park

People are at the heart of caring for Allestree Park so, through the rewilding we would like to create a nature-rich space for people and wildlife to flourish and thrive together in. To achieve this, we have created multiple opportunities for people to get involved with practical volunteer tasks and training workshops.

Various training workshops are planned for 2026, with a chance to help monitor Allestree Park in the future. Examples include Grassland Plant Identification, Bird Identification, Dung Beetle Monitoring and lots more. To find out more click on the timeline here.

To find out more about volunteering with us, click here.

Monitoring how the rewilding is changing the park is very important to us and we are working with various organisations to do this, including the University of Derby, ACE Nature, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Ecology team, various wildlife groups and other organisations such as Butterfly Conservation and Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Collaboration for change

Wild Solutions

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Wild Solutions ecology team have been carrying out numerous surveys to track the changes happening at Allestree Park due to the rewilding project. Surveys include UK habitat assessments (surveying the plant, tree and scrub species), breeding bird surveys, bat roosting surveys, pollinator assemblage transects, soil samples, reptile and amphibian monitoring and more.

University of Derby

The University of Derby are a partner in the Community Rewilding Project and are helping us monitor Allestree Park in multiple ways. Six community transects have been set up across the area that was previously the golf course, to observe the effects of rewilding. Plant biodiversity quadrats are being surveyed with university lecturers and students to investigate how the plant community changes along the transects as the woodland edge begins to expand via natural succession.

In addition, the University are investigating the soils along the transects to see what mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria are present in the soil and to see if Allestree Park is sequestering or emitting carbon dioxide. A diverse microbial community in the soil will improve soil health and help sequester more carbon – very important with climate change.

Outside of the transects, the University are testing the watercourses and waterbodies on site to see what the nutrient levels are and if any flea treatments from dogs can be detected. Veterinary flea treatments are highly toxic to all insects and aquatic invertebrates and a study even found that bird nests that used dog fur treated with these chemicals, resulted in a higher number of unhatched eggs or dead chicks in nests. If you are interested in knowing more, click here and here to read more research.

Each year the project team also devise a number of research projects that the University students can get involved in. Past examples include looking at the biodiversity value of Veteran Oak trees for birds and bats and creating a mini management plan for riparian buffers at Allestree Park.

We led a surveying session at Allestree Park with the University of Derby in September 2025.

Join us in the field: watch highlights from our 2025 surveying session

Fixed Point Photography

Visitors to Allestree Park can help monitor the evolving landscape as the rewilding project progresses, thanks to the fixed-point photography project. With technology powered by video specialists Ace Nature, the public can take photos, using their mobile phones, from the same point over time and upload them online via a QR code displayed on the posts.

View the fixed-point photography images on our Wildmap here.

Comparison Site Surveying

We have teamed up with the National Trust at Kedleston Park and Kedleston Golf Club to act as a comparison site for the project. We will continue to mirror much of the monitoring that is taking place at Allestree to identify opportunities for nature’s recovery across the landscape.

Wildlife Group Monitoring

Many local wildlife groups have joined the project, to discover which species are present at Allestree Park, as well as which are missing, and explore potential wildlife that could return! From bats to birds, butterflies to bees, groups will help us to know how things are changing and what more could be done.

If you want to help wildlife-specific groups monitor Allestree Park, please get in touch with them directly below:

Derbyshire Ornithological Society carry out monthly Bird Surveys to monitor the bird populations on site. To get involved, visit their 'Contacts' webpage.

Butterfly Conservation have volunteers that walk butterfly transects weekly between April-September, noting down any butterflies found along the transect on that day. Training is given yearly, if you’d like to get involved at Allestree Park or another site in Derbyshire then visit the Butterfly Conservation East Midlands website and get in touch with the transect coordinator.

Derbyshire Bat Group deliver annual bat walks and bat box checks at Allestree Park. To get involved, visit their 'Contact Us' webpage.

Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Entomological Society (DaNES) survey Allestree Park twice a year for invertebrates. They also survey other sites in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. To get involved, visit the DaNES website.

Mid Derbyshire Badger Group are mapping the Badger setts at Allestree Park, to find out more, please contact midderbyshirebadgergroup@gmail.com.

Bumblebee Conservation Trust have volunteers that carry out BeeWalk transects at Allestree Park. The transects are walked once a month between March-October, looking for bumblebees. The data is part of a national scheme that helps monitor the abundance of bumblebees across the UK. To get involved, please contact beewalk@bumblebeeconservation.org or Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, and specify you would like to carry out a BeeWalk at Allestree Park.

Restoring natural processes through rewilding and community action