Rewilding Harborough

AI generated vision for the the Harborough rewilding project
Harborough District Council has purchased land to restore a nature-depleted area on a nationally significant scale (pictured: AI generated vision)

Rewilding Harborough is an ambitious partnership project that aims to restore nature at landscape scale by creating, restoring and connecting habitats across a 500-acre area in south Leicestershire alongside providing new opportunities to bring people closer to nature.

Early collaboration between Harborough District Council and Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) initiated the council purchase of 133 acres of land at the heart of what is now the wider project area. This purchase also attracted other interested parties to the project, resulting in a strategic partnership.

The partnership consists of five key partners: Harborough District Council, LRWT, Market Harborough & Bowden’s Charity, East Mercia Rivers Trust and Anglian Water. All of these are committed to the delivery of the Strategic Partner Vision:

‘Together we aim to restore and reconnect habitats at scale across the District, creating a resilient and healthy environment, accessible for people, teeming with nature and rich with opportunities for learning, health and wellbeing.’

Why now?

Nature is struggling, with the latest State of Nature report (2023) indicating an average decline of 32% in species abundance across England since 1970. Habitat loss, habitat degradation and climate change present the most significant impacts driving these declines.

Why here?

South Leicestershire contains some of the most heavily modified and nature-depleted areas in lowland England with only small, isolated and often inaccessible pockets of nature remaining within the landscape. This is also reflected within the recently adopted Leicestershire & Rutland Local Nature Recovery Strategy which identifies the project area as significant for targeted nature recovery opportunities.

There are also limited opportunities for local people to access wilder, nature rich green spaces.

What is ‘rewilding’?

‘Rewilding’ is a nature-led approach to restoring and creating habitats to provide places for nature to thrive. There are no fixed actions to this approach, and options can range from doing very little to complex habitat creation and/or species reintroduction projects. However, it is essential to allow nature to lead the way and harness natural processes to bring nature back.

Current progress

A governance structure has been developed and adopted to support decision making and guide the direction of the project. This is formed of several groups which include representation from the five strategic partners, elected councillors, specialist organisations and government agencies.

Details of the project governance and associated meeting minutes can be viewed at the bottom of this page.

A series of public engagement events promoting the project have also been delivered by project staff. These events have included illustrated talks, guided walks and volunteer/community supported habitat creation work.

Update on council budget

On 23 February 20206 an amendment to the draft council budget proposals was presented and approved at Full Council. Amongst other changes, this amendment removed a proposed £666,000 capital funding over three years for the project and £54,786 for an officer post to support project delivery. We want to be clear that we remain committed to delivering this nationally significant rewilding project despite this reduction in funding. Work to deliver this project is continuing regardless of this budget outcome, and we look forward to updating you on our progress throughout.

Over the next few months, officers and partners will continue to work hard to develop a full and complete business case to support the project’s financial requirements. We anticipate this will go through the council's governance processes in summer 2026. The first draft of the business case was seen by Cabinet on 2 March 2026. You can find out more by reading the meeting papers on our website.

Key documents