the heartwood project

The Story So Far

A person holds a semi-transparent piece of green plastic up to the landscape, on the plastic is a drawing of what the landscape may have looked like in the past

Six young people sit in pairs on a hill making notes, they wear warm coats, walking boots and wellington boots

The 160-acre High Leas Farm, nestled on a hillside in the Derwent Valley just outside Matlock, Derbyshire, is home to The Heartwood Project: an effort to re-weave the wild, food growing and human presence in the landscape with leadership from young people.

In 2024, Action for Conservation partnered with Heartwood Social Farm CIC, custodians of Heartwood, as part of the National Lottery Community Funded Intergenerational Action for Climate and Nature project to take this work forward.

Following Penpont’s example, in summer 2024 we recruited 15 young people from Matlock and across the North West to join the Heartwood Youth Leadership Group (YLG) and the new Heartwood Project Partnership.

Together this group has embarked on a journey to learn about the farm and its history through our innovative eco-cultural mapping process. During the first year of the project we have explored the site’s history from the cretaceous period to the 20th-Century through historic crafts, soil sampling, old maps, expert walking tours and more.

The Heartwood Partnership has also begun undertaking ecological baseline surveys and hosted a series of community action days. We have welcomed more than 50 young people and adults to the farm to participate in bioblitzes, nature walks and to plant a small orchard and 90 native trees in on-contour tree strips designed to help reduce flood risk downstream of the farm.

17 young people and adult leaders that make up the project partnership stand and sit in a woodland smiling at the camera

"I'm looking forward to us being a community and having the same goals of doing something together and seeing that progression"

Freyja, Youth Leadership Group Member
"Bringing people here to make positive changes to the land, like re-establishing natural flood management features, could have major benefits to communities downstream who are suffering major impacts from flooding made more regular by climate change”

Miriam McDonald, Farmer and Land Manager at Heartwood.
"I'm looking forward to getting out and enjoying nature, because you don't really get the chance to do that where i live, there's no where close"

Will, Youth Leadership Group Member
"Exploring and experiencing the land with the Youth Leadership Group at Heartwood is so inspiring. It's been wonderful to see them feel so empowered as we move through the co-designing aspect of the project"

Ethan Hall, North West Land-based Project Coordinator, Action for Conservation

collaborate with us

partners:

join the youth leadership group

If you’re aged 13-18 and live within a 1 hour drive of the project site you could be eligible to join our Youth Leadership Group. Applications aren’t currently open but please do get in touch if you’re interested!

Register Your Interest

SharING expertise

We’re keen to hear from interested local and national environmental groups and organisations. If you feel you could offer our project your expertise or you want to learn from ours and would like to speak with our team about arranging a visit or running an event please get in touch.

experience our Nature education at the heartwood project

Do you want your secondary school students or youth group members to explore the outdoors? Or to learn how to restore nature while taking part in practical hands-on conservation activities like tree planting? Then get in touch today! The Heartwood Project hosts open days and activities days for young people throughout the year. You can also check out Heartwood Social Farm CIC’s upcoming courses and workshops here.