There are a number of countryside management partnerships in Surrey involving many different partners, neighbouring districts and boroughs and various conservation organisations.
They all broadly have the same objective: to maintain and sustainably enhance our green spaces for future generations and for bio-diversity.
Surrey Countryside Partnerships team
The Surrey Countryside Partnerships team is an established county-wide countryside management service, working with the essential support of volunteers and local communities, as well as providing apprenticeship and training opportunities for young people. The Team comprises:
- Downlands Partnership - working predominately on rare chalk grassland sites across northeast Surrey and into the neighbouring areas of Croydon and Sutton, including the provision of a conservation grazing service.
- Lower Mole Partnership - works at various woodlands and helps to manage commons and improve public access in north Surrey and into Kingston.
- Surrey Heathland Partnership - manages large areas of lowland heathland found predominantly in west Surrey, including key sites in Guildford and Farnham.
Other countryside conservation partnerships in Surrey
- Basingstoke Canal Authority manages the canal on behalf of Surrey and Hampshire County Councils.
- Gatwick Greenspace Partnership works with Sussex Wildlife Trust to protect countryside near Gatwick Airport.
- Blackwater Valley Partnership works along the River Blackwater bordering Hampshire around Farnborough, Aldershot and Farnham.
- Colne Valley Partnership looks after farmland, woodland and water extending northwards from Staines into Buckinghamshire.
- Thames Landscape Strategy aims to protect the River Thames around Kew, Hampton Court and Weybridge.
- Thames Basin Heaths Partnership works to protect heathland sites and their wildlife in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.