"At the moment, it's a construction site which took over a farm next to the M25, but the intention is to leave behind rewilded nature reserve once the HS2 builders have packed up and gone home. Lying on either side of the railway, the newly landscaped area straddles the Buckinghamshire-Hertfordshire border. It is being seeded with a variety of plants that thrive in chalky soils including kidney vetch, greater knapweed and sainfoin."
"Chalk grasslands are unique to southeastern England, but the area they cover has been shrinking for centuries because of reasons including population growth and farming. They support a wide variety of wildflowers, insects, birds and animals, and are crucial for an area's biodiversity, so when an opportunity comes along to add to the total chalk grassland area - in this case HS2's Chiltern Tunnel - it needs to be seized."
Three million tonnes of chalk excavated during HS2 tunnelling are being reused to create a 127-hectare nature reserve beside the M25. The Colne Valley Western Slopes project will convert former monoculture farmland into chalk grassland reminiscent of Chilterns downland. The landscaped area straddles the Buckinghamshire‑Hertfordshire border and will be seeded with chalk‑loving plants including kidney vetch, greater knapweed and sainfoin. Over 50,000 native southern England trees will be planted, with aims to establish beech‑dominated woodland and reintroduce declining species such as box and juniper. The scheme is intended to expand scarce chalk grassland habitat and boost local biodiversity.
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