LANDSCAPERS advising on the HS2 rail project aim to re-use building materials to create new chalk grassland, woodland, wood pasture and wetland habitats in the Colne Valley.
The Colne Valley Western Slopes project is selecting plant species and habitats resilient to a changing climate.
Almost 65,000 trees and shrubs of 32 species will be planted together with nearly 3.5km of new hedgerows.
Grasslands, which once thrived on the valley slopes, will be established and areas of historic woodland reinstated, say project engineers.
Arable land, initially needed for a compound to build the Colne Valley Viaduct and Chilterns Tunnel, will be transformed through the re-use of existing soil and recycling of tons of chalk taken from the tunnel excavation.
Grasslands, which develop on shallow soils overlying chalk or limestone, are a declining habitat, reflected in both the Colne Valley and adjacent Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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