About Sustainability & Biodiversity holidays in Suffolk
Sustainability & Biodiversity
By choosing to stay at Whitehouse Farm you have already made the choice of a low impact break. We are also doing our bit to make our site as sustainable as we can. We have installed a 48kW solar farm (that’s 120 panels!) which generates more electricity annually than we currently consume on site, with excess energy being exported back into the grid to supply green energy to other users.
In 2022 we drained and dredged the pond to revitalise what had become a stagnant and lifeless water body. Within weeks we saw the results, with large numbers of tadpoles, frogs, newts, dragonflies, damselflies, toads, ducks, moorhens and even a grass snake taking residence in or around the regenerated pond.
We have built barn owl and tawny owl nest boxes as well as various smaller bird boxes, which you will see around the property, and we have also incorporated 10 swift nest boxes into the rear of the main house. We have regular visits from several species of birds, including kestrel, red kite, buzzard and green woodpecker, as well as the more usual forms of tit (blue, great, and long tailed), finches, wagtails, and tree creepers. We also have an abundance of game birds such as the pheasant and partridge, but we also see woodcock and get regular visits from hares, muntjac and roe deer.
As well as planting hundreds of native species hedging trees, we have added numerous fruit trees, shrubs, bushes and areas of wild flowers to encourage biodiversity, with insects, bees, butterflies and birds all benefitting. There are also several “log piles” to create habitat for invertebrates, and we have built a hibernacula (a bat cave) into the roof of the barn conversion as a winter hibernation spot for our flying furry friends.
All of our efforts are constantly rewarded with the rich and diverse selection of fauna and flora here at Whitehouse Farm, and our trail camera frequently detects new and interesting visitors as well as the old favourites.
We also encourage all of our guests to recycle as much as possible. In the cottages we have recycling bins for paper, card, plastic, tins, and also compostable waste which is ultimately used on our veg plot and in the polytunnel. The same recycling facilities are also made available for all of our campers and glampers. We know that a holiday often involves a glass or two of wine, so we have also added our own bottle bank to make glass recycling as easy as possible too.
Whitehouse Farm
Sustainability & Biodiversity
