In a nutshell...
Big Chalk is a BIG idea. Connecting 20% of England to restore its globally-rare and significant chalk and limestone habitats, Big Chalk is one of the largest and most ambitious nature recovery programs in the country.
What do you think of when you hear the words "chalk stream"?
Are you picturing sparkling clear running waters, long grasses swaying with the current and riverbanks teeming with wildlife?
Southern England has some of the most awe-inspiring scenery on Earth and has captured the imagination of visitors, communities, and artists for centuries.
It is home to some incredibly rich and globally-rare habitats, a result of unique geology, soils, and water that form a network of streams, meadows, grasslands and woodlands.
These landscapes are as crucial to people as they are to our planet.
They contribute to water supplies, healthy soils, carbon storage, sustainable food production and flood management, all while improving our health and wellbeing through access to historic heritage and the beautiful outdoors.
But the climate and nature crises threaten these precious places and the nature they support. Most nature-rich grasslands have already been lost, and our chalk streams are in poor health.
That’s why Big Chalk exists.
Big Chalk partnership
The Big Chalk program is made possible by a partnership of over 150 organisations, each of which is developing and delivering ambitious projects that will help to achieve the shared vision of nature-rich chalk and limestone landscapes that benefit all of us.
Big Chalk is a vital model for nature recovery in the UK, connecting national targets and plans with participatory delivery frameworks working at local, regional, and national levels.
It helps to align vision, strategy, and delivery so that resources are optimised and the maximum impact is achieved for people and for nature.
Big Chalk has been supported through several development phases, firstly by Natural England and then, since 2023, by the Protected Landscapes Partnership, supported by Defra.
The National Landscapes Association hosts the program lead.
Big Chalk is the largest landscape-level conservation initiative in the UK.
| Professor Sir John Lawton, author of the Making Space for Nature “Lawton” report, 2010.
Support Big Chalk
There are a number of ways to support this innovative restoration program from joining the partnership and delivering projects, to funding.
Get in touch with us to discuss how your business can get involved in restoring some of the UK (and the world's) most precious and vital habitats.