Caring for the Land For Future Generations
Our purpose at G.H. Dean & Co. Ltd is Sustainable for future generations. Stewardship sits at the heart of how we manage the estate, balancing productive farming with a responsibility to care for the land, wildlife and natural environment.
Joe Bloggs, Estate Coordinator
Balancing Productivity & Responsibility
We believe productive farming and environmental responsibility should work together. Through a combination of modern farming practices, habitat creation, environmental partnerships and long-term planning, we work to ensure the estate remains healthy, resilient and productive for generations to come.
Supporting soil health and reducing impact
The way land is farmed today has a direct impact on its future. Through our contract farming arrangements, we use practices such as direct seeding and controlled traffic farming, reducing soil disturbance, protecting soil structure and helping to lower the estate’s carbon footprint. By working with the natural characteristics of the land, we aim to maintain productive soils while minimising environmental impact.
Supporting biodiversity across the estate
We have created wildlife corridors across larger fields, providing valuable habitat for insects, birds and mammals throughout the year. These habitats not only support biodiversity but also contribute to natural pest management within the wider farming system.
Alongside this, we continue to plant and improve hedgerows across the estate, strengthening wildlife networks and creating shelter and food sources for a wide range of species.
Helping nature thrive
Pollinators play a vital role in both agriculture and the wider environment. Across our orchards, we sow native British wildflowers to provide food and habitat for bees and other important pollinating insects.
We also work alongside local beekeepers, helping to support healthy bee populations and encourage greater biodiversity throughout the estate.
Learning, improving and collaborating
We work alongside a range of organisations and environmental groups to support biodiversity, habitat creation and sustainable land management across the estate.
By sharing knowledge and collaborating on long-term initiatives, we can help deliver greater positive impact for both the environment and the wider landscape.
Environmental Partnership
The projects at Blacketts and Banks Farm are being delivered through the Transforming the Thames Partnership, founded by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The programme is working to reconnect the currently fragmented and damaged seascape of the Greater Thames Estuary through habitat protection, repair and restoration.
By working in partnership with environmental charities, county councils, landowners, academic institutions and government bodies, the aim is to create larger, more strategic and longer-lasting environmental improvements.
For this first phase of work, $5 million has been secured from the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme (ELSP), managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative in partnership with Arcadia.
Over the course of the five-year programme, the partnership aims to restore more than 320 hectares of intertidal seagrass meadows, saltmarsh, native oyster reef, coastal grazing marsh, sand and shingle, and saline lagoon habitat.
The habitat enhancement works at Blacketts and Banks Farm form part of the Coastal Grazing Marsh Project, delivered by the RSPB across Kent and Essex.
The project focuses on improving water management and habitat conditions to support breeding wading birds and wintering wildfowl, including species such as Lapwing and Redshank.
Works on the estate include:
These interventions are designed to improve habitat resilience and maintain the wetland conditions required to support wildlife, particularly during increasingly hot and dry summers.
Biodiversity Net Gain
We have Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) plots available on the estate, helping businesses meet their environmental obligations while contributing to habitat creation and ecological improvement within the local area.
If you would like to discuss Biodiversity Net Gain opportunities, please contact the estate team.