Hedgerow Restoration
East Lothian’s pathway to a greener, resilient ecosystem
The East Lothian Climate Hub is raising funds to restore our local biodiversity, landscape and traditional skills
Imagine a landscape stitched back together; where a network of thriving hedgerows connect, forming resilient green corridors alive with birdsong and pollinators. Right now, hedgerows in East Lothian and across Scotland are in serious decline. Only one third remain in good condition. Their loss threatens over 2000 species, weakens farm productivity and resilience, and releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
To address this, working with interested landowners and farmers, the volunteers of the East Lothian Hedgerow Restoration project are aiming to restore and plant 45 km of hedgerows across 30 sites by 2030. Working with interested landowners, contractors, and volunteers we will collectively build our understanding of hedgerow life cycles and skills in hedgerow management to bring these vital habitats back to life.
East Lothian Hedgerow Restoration project
Healthy, well-managed hedgerows are the living tissue that link habitats in farmland, urban and wilderness areas. As green corridors they are havens for wildlife. The hedgerows of Scotland are a lifeline for over 2000 different species. In networks, reaching across the country, they offer an important resource for animals: a home for a resilient, thriving and interconnected ecosystem.
However these important habitats that link our green spaces are in decline and becoming increasingly fragmented.
Only a third of Scotland’s hedgerow was considered in good health by the last Countryside Survey in Scotland and is fast disappearing.
The traditional skills and knowledge needed to maintain hedgerows are also fading.
We are at a critical point for saving this manmade habitat and the familiar landscape of East Lothian from deterioration beyond repair, and the thousands of species that rely on them.
As well as part of East Lothian’s rural identity, hedges offer vital refuge for animals and insects. As a resource holding wildlife and carbon sinks, they are resilient in an increasingly unpredictable climate of extremes.
This is why the East Lothian Climate Hub believes the time is now to establish a dedicated role to work with interested landowners and volunteers on rejuvenation and restoration of hedgerows.
The state of Scottish hedgerows
The large-scale loss of hedgerow is a well documented issue in France, England and northern Europe. Land consolidation and other trends including historical Government incentives have seen a gradual loss of hedgerow area since the 1950s. Surveying local farms shows the rural landscape of Scotland and East Lothian are not immune to this trend.
Megan Gimber, hedgerow expert from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species says that much of East Lothian’s existing hedgerow is at a critical stage.
“Unfortunately, the majority of hedges I have seen in East Lothian are not living up to their extraordinary potential. In fact, it is clear that there has already been considerable hedgerow loss through lack of timely rejuvenation, and many of the remaining hedges have declined to the point of extreme gappiness.”
Restoring existing hedgerow will be as important as planting new hedgerow given that it takes up to 50 years for hedgerow to reach maturity for absorbing carbon; that soil carbon is released rapidly into the atmosphere when hedgerows are lost; and that much existing hedgerow is ancient and native stock. Restoring East Lothian’s hedgerows to health will be a long-term project.
It’s not only these habitats but the specialist skills and local knowledge that are at risk of disappearing. By 2024 there were only a handful of professional hedgelayers in all of Scotland.
Unless there is intervention and urgent hedgerow rejuvenation and restoration we could lose this resource and the skills and knowledge required for their maintenance.
Mission critical: Drylaw Hill Farm
Enthusiastic engagement of landowners has enabled a “beacon of hope” in East Lothian.
To date, as part of its’ pilot project, since early 2025 the East Lothian Climate Hub has established the East Lothian Hedgerow Restoration steering group and has been working with Megan Gimber of PTES to train over 60 volunteers, interested landowners, and other interested parties in hedgerow lifecycles and management; has trained 30 volunteers in surveying and 14 more in hedgelaying techniques with oversight from East Lothian Council Countryside Rangers.
Much of this work has been conducted in a small corridor of land, around the pilot site of Drylaw Hill Farm. Having had the enthusiastic collaboration of two local landowners, the group has surveyed the condition of all the hedgerow on the farm and helped develop a 10 year management plan. This process has become a template for the larger project.
“We are at mission critical point here, and without the focus of a restoration project, we will undoubtedly see hedge loss here in the next decade,” says Gimber.
“Drylaw Hill farm, with the enthusiastic engagement of the landowners, could be a beacon of hope in East Lothian.”
Having demonstrated the value of the work at Drylaw the working group has earned the trust of a small network of three further landowners, including a neighbouring farm.
“It’s been a real pleasure to see the progress so far,” say landowners Robs and Tommy Dale.
“We see this as a hugely positive initiative for both the farm and the surrounding area.”
To date, the Climate Hub through the East Lothian Hedgerow Restoration steering group has trained over 40 volunteers in hedgerow surveying; and through East Lothian Countryside Rangers trained 14 volunteers in hedge laying skills.
Hedgerows: the opportunity
We’re ready to scale up. The pilot work has proven the demand, established the partnerships, and initiated the momentum. With your support, we can turn East Lothian into a beacon of biodiversity and climate resilience, inspiring restoration efforts across Scotland.
The time is now for rejuvenating and restoring East Lothian’s green corridors. This is why we want to raise funds to establish a dedicated Hedgerow officer role to work collaboratively with interested landowners and volunteers to create a network of farms and landholdings with ten-year hedgerow plans.
This is an opportunity to restore our local biodiversity, landscape and traditional skills.
“Instead of seeing this as a disaster, we can choose to focus on the opportunity this provides us with,” says Megan Gimber of PTES.
“It is exciting to have the enthusiastic buy-in from the farmers themselves, as together we can help design a hedgerow system of maximum benefit all round.”
The larger the network of healthy hedgerows the greater the benefits of this interconnected habitat; the stronger and more resilient our natural habitats will be.
So far we have trained over 40 volunteers and received enthusiastic support from local landowners. In collaboration, we want to grow this green conservation network across East Lothian and spread the benefits this resource brings.
How to get involved
Why we love hedgerows
- Hedgerows are crucial for biodiversity, supporting over 2000 species. A two-year survey of plants, animals and macro fungi associated with a single hedge in southwest England found over 2070 different species (Wolton, 2015) Meanwhile arable pasture contains between 40 to a couple of hundred species, depending on how intensively it is farmed. (UK National Ecosystem Assessment, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge. Carey PD, 2013)
- Hedgerows sequester carbon at twice the rate of trees Compared with other forestry types hedgerows store far
more biomass below-ground in their roots. This makes them a valuable carbon sink and more resilient to droughts and extreme weather. (Drexler et al 2023, GWCT 2021) - Hedgerows improve farm productivity through shelter and shade for livestock, a habitat for pollinators, and predators facilitating pest control, and reduce soil erosion and flooding
- Hedgerows boost the wider economy
Analysis by the Council for the Preservation of Rural England found that that for every £1 spent on hedgerows, a return of as much as £3.92 can be expected as a result of some key ecosystem services and economic activities associated with hedgerows. (CPRE Hedge Fund Report, 2021)
The importance of rejuvenating hedgerows
There are many benefits to restoring old hedge stocks over just planting new hedgerow
- It takes up to 50 years for hedgerow to reach maturity and peak soil carbon storage, so maintaining old hedges is far higher priority than planting new borders. (Planting Hedgerows: Biomass carbon sequestration and contribution towards net-zero targets, Biffi et al. 2023)
- Carbon stored below ground and in soil is rapidly lost back to the atmosphere when hedges are lost. (Soil carbon and ‘ghost’ hedgerows, van Den Berge, Agroforestry Sysytems 2021)