Who we are
Since then, as well as building up an impressive client base of private farm and estate clients, Jemma has worked with organisations such as Natural England, the Grazing Animals Project, AONB Partnerships, Local Authorities and the States of Jersey, generally in some kind of farmer engagement role. In 2011, Jemma got the farmers of the Marlborough Downs together and developed the first farmer led landscape-scale project to be funded by Defra - the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area. This was a great success in delivering genuine grass roots action and inspired both the GWCT’s Farmer Clusters and Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund. The Marlborough Downs Space for Nature project is still going strong. Jemma is also the director of the North Wessex Downs Landscape Trust, and regularly works on a voluntary basis in Africa, most recently for the Mount Kenya Trust.
Jemma Batten
Jemma graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in Zoology and went on to complete a PhD that encompassed ecology, biospeleology, forensic entomology, and taphonomy. She then achieved competency certificates in chainsaw and winch use, pesticide application, and ATV handling while working as a volunteer. After five years as a lecturer, first at Hartpury and then Lackham, followed by a brief interlude as a researcher with the BBC Natural History Unit, Jemma joined the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency working on the original Countryside Stewardship Scheme in 2000. She left after a year for a role as agri-environment consultant with Greenlink Forestry before setting up Black Sheep in 2002.