Case Study - Boothby Wildland

A UK-based nature restoration company, Nattergal is working hard to make environmental recovery a commercially viable investment through the development of rewilding sites. Boothby was their first site, purchased in 2021, and by late 2024 there were ready to prepare for free-roaming herbivores to kickstart dynamic natural processes and drive ecosystem recovery.

Phase 1 of this project was for the development of large blocks in which these animals would be free to roam. This required 3690m of deer fencing underpinned with 3690m of rabbit netting to protect young trees, as well as eight pedestrian kissing style gates, three vehicle gates, and two horse gates.

Large scale tree planting was also planned, and it was necessary that the fencing project was completed within a tight window of just four weeks in late winter 2025. This would allow the trees to be planted during their dormancy.

A project of this scale requires careful planning to ensure that it can be completed on time and within budget. Setting requirements for the number of posts to be installed each day, or the length of net to be attached, allowed us to calculate the necessary man-hours needed to complete the job within the timeframe. As the work was scheduled for February, it was important to consider the shorter daylight hours and also to have a contingency in place should the weather prove particularly challenging.

Working on a site such as Boothby, limiting environmental damage is incredibly important. We used HVO diesel to power our machines, which offers significant greenhouse gas reductions (up to 90%) and cleaner emissions than fossil diesel. In addition, the oil within our machines was replaced with fully synthetic biodegradable hydraulic oil. Our Protec Compact tracked post knocker has large rubber tracks, and because of this we were able to keep ground disturbance to a minimum.

The installation of the gate posts and gates was our initial task, followed by the strainers and stakes. By utilising a separate machine to attach the deer netting, our second team were able to commence attaching the net once the first run of posts was ready. We began by joining the lengths of net together with crimping sleeves, but it soon became apparent that we would need a more efficient method. We transitioned to using gripples and found that the joining was much quicker, thus allowing us to stay on schedule with the project,

Once the main fence was finished, work moved on to the rabbit netting - no mean feat given the total length of the fence line, but by this point we were on target to complete the project on time and the finish line was in sight! Careful planning, the hard work and dedication of our team, and a bit of luck with the Lincolnshire winter weather, all combined to ensure that we were able to complete the project in full within the time constraints.

To put our years of skill and experience in to practise on project such as this was an exciting opportunity for Sunnyfields, and we are incredibly proud that we were able to play a small part in helping Nattergal work towards their vision for a dynamic, functioning ecosystem at Boothby.