Biodiversity goes full throttle as Stowe Gardens and Silverstone Circuit announce joint campaign for people and nature

The National Trust at Stowe Gardens has teamed up with its neighbours at Silverstone Circuit on a project to create a nature superhighway.

Silverstone and Stowe Gardens are working together to generate funds to upgrade a four-mile parkland trail within the historic parkland at Stowe as a nature superhighway, and to restore a 300 year old gamekeeper's tower as A Tower for All Species.

The campaign aims to fast-track nature conservation and boost biodiversity in the area ... and you can help!

The project will create new habitats, increase biodiversity, improve access and create sustainable visitor facilities along the route of the parkland trail. Eventually the two organisations want to enable green and active travel between their respective sites which are only 3 miles apart.

Silverstone is only three miles from Stowe Gardens and was once part of the 18th century estate belonging to Stowe House. During the Second World War, the site belonged to RAF Silverstone. The airfield was first used for motorsport in September 1947 when a group of friends organised an impromptu race. The following year, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) hosted the first British Grand Prix at Silverstone when an estimated 100,000 people flocked to the course marked by haybales, ropes and canvas barriers.

Stowe Gardens and Parkland is a Grade 1 listed landscape of international significance and was placed in the care of the National Trust in 1989. With over 40 scheduled monuments and temples, the gardens host a quarter of a million visitors every year. The 1,000 acres of parkland and 245 acres of landscape gardens are home to lakes and ponds, vast wildflower meadows and rolling wood pasture – it’s a haven for wildlife and for people.

You can help by donating:

£10 will help pay for wildflower seed

£25 will help pay for a swift brick

£50 will help pay for saplings

£100 will help pay for one meter of footpath to be re-surfaced

£250 will help pay for bat and owl boxes

£500 will help pay for new livestock gates or a bench on the trail

£1,000 will help pay for an accessible platform lift to the top of the tower

£5,000 will contribute to building conservation to the tower

Stowe Gardens and Silverstone share strategic priorities to improve biodiversity, increase sustainability and create new homes for nature. The local fundraising relationship will provide new access for cyclists, walkers and people with mobility aids and connect communities with green travel opportunities, steering both Stowe Gardens and Silverstone towards net zero by 2040.

The National Trust is a registered charity number 205848 and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. It's the most efficient way to donate and saves time and costs. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, the funds will go directly to the Stowe Parkland Trail and Tower for All Species projects at Stowe Gardens.

Thank you for supporting our campaign.