Wakelyns – accelerating the adoption of agroforestry to tackle the nature and climate crises

One of the most important demonstration sites for agroforestry is Wakelyns in Suffolk. This relatively small site (22 ha) sits in the intensive arable region of East Anglia and represents a beacon for an alternative, more resilient and multi-functional approach to land management.

ORC has been awarded a three-year grant through Stewardship’s partnership with an anonymous donor to carry out work at Wakelyns aimed at achieving significant impact in the adoption of agroforestry at scale.

Project Summary

Year 1 (2024)

In the first year of this programme, we decided to capitalise on 2024 being the 30th anniversary of Wakelyn’s pioneering work in agroforestry through a series of knowledge exchange and public/scientific engagement activities. We produced a new, updated edition of the publication Wakelyns Agroforestry, Resilience through Diversity, launching it at the Agroforestry Open Weekend 18-19 May and presenting it as a poster at the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) 7th conference in Brno 28-30 May (winning third prize in the poster competition!). A celebratory event was organised at Groundswell, with Wakelyns managers David Wolfe and Amanda Illing joined by Josaiah Meldrum of Hodmedod’s to talk about the Wakelyn’s story, significance and plans for the future.

Year 2 (2025)

In the second year of the project, we are focusing on the important question of how the trees at Wakelyns are cared for and managed. We are drawing on the decades of experience of arborist Paul Jackson to develop a series of illustrated tree biographies for specific species in Wakelyns’ agroforestry fields, to be part of the interpretative material available for visitors. Importantly, we are capturing Paul’s knowledge in the form of a long-term tree management strategy and plan. This will act as a guide to decision-making on the care of the trees at Wakelyns in the future, to ensure their healthy growth and regeneration and balance all the tree-based and other enterprises on the site. In order to disseminate this work for wider impact, we are partnering with Paul to run an introduction to agro-silvoculture as part of the Training Hub at the Agroforestry Show 2025.