The RBOR programme has ambitious plans for wildlife and communities across the landscape between Oxford, Bicester and Aylesbury. It’s an area under huge pressure from inappropriate development, pollution and intensive farming but this is a chance to create a story of nature’s recovery alongside development and economic growth. From planting hedgerows and revitalising woodlands to helping threatened birds like curlews and enabling urban communities to access nature, the possibilities for the RBOR programme are huge.
To unlock a major grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the next stage of the programme, BBOWT must raise 10% of the programme cost. Funds raised via the Big Give Earth Raise campaign will go towards this.
Every donation to the week-long campaign, which starts at midday on Wednesday 22 April will be doubled - giving BBOWT the chance to raise up to £100,000 towards the money needed for the next stage of the RBOR programme. That’s double the money and double the impact for nature!
Eliza Ader, Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor and Ray Programme Lead, said:
“The countryside between Oxford, Bicester and Aylesbury is a patchwork of ancient woods, riverside meadows and hedgerows, with much evidence of past communities from Roman times onward. Unlike many parts of southern England, there is huge scope here to bring back nature and re-connect habitats at a true landscape scale.”
Examples of projects the RBOR programme is planning include:
- planting hedgerows to link up areas of wildlife habitat
- carrying out surveys for rare hairstreak butterflies
- creating more wetlands to attract curlews and other birds
- supporting local communities to monitor the health of rivers
- increasing people's access to wild green places
- exploring distant and recent heritage from the history of the Otmoor Riots to a WWII bomb storage site reclaimed by nature in the Bernwood Forest
The Big Give Earth Raise match fund campaign runs for just one week – starting at 12noon on Wednesday 22 April until 12noon on Wednesday 29 April 2026. Click below to give today!
