• Managing the AONB

• Start of "Managing the AONB" navigation
• Management Plan
• Landowners within the AONB
• Malverns Heritage Lottery Project
• Landscape
• Biodiversity
• Historic Environment
• Farming and Forestry
• Tourism, Recreation and Access
• Transport
• Community
• Development
• Sustainable Environment
• Monitoring
• End of "Managing the AONB" navigation

Sustainable Environment

The effects of global warming and climate change can have a major impact on the special environment of areas like the Malvern Hills. It is important that those who live in, visit and manage this area play a role in finding and implementing more sustainable ways to live.

The Sustainable Development Fund is a defra grant scheme that seeks to support projects that bring social, environmental and economic benefits to the AONB. It specifically aims to develop and test new methods of achieving a more sustainable way of living in areas of great natural beauty and diversity. The SDF has been used to support a great range of projects in the AONB including:

• the construction of a geodesic dome for use as a mobile venue space for exhibitions and community events. Events in the dome will be largely solar-powered;
• the establishment of a school eco-club involving children and adults in growing their own vegetables, planting trees and hedgerows to benefit wildlife, recycling and conservation in the school grounds;
• a series of food and farming workshops in local schools to provide children with an opportunity to consider where food comes from and the impact this has on our landscapes;
• the establishment of a Malvern Hills coppice network and directory and the provision of subsidised courses on hedgerow and coppice management within the AONB;
• a new trail guide to the geology and landscape of the southern Malvern Hills with a focus on sustainable access;
• an exhibition to raise awareness and to promote sustainability in the design, construction and management of homes.