Farm

Lower Sharpham Farm

Lower Sharpham Farm is our 80 acre organic beef and sheep farm in South Devon which we manage for nature, wildlife and learning. The farm is located in the picturesque Dart River Valley within the Sharpham Estate. Many of Ambios’ nature conservation training courses and nature conservation volunteering opportunities are based here.  The farm is our learning environment, with a rich mosaic of habitats where we can put into practice the best in conservation and bio-diversity learning.

Our farm is registered organic by the Soil Association. Our farm management plan explains our approach to farming, and how we aim to achieve the balance between learning, biodiversity and economy through our farming practice. Our farm management plan is available here.

farming for wildlife

Lower Sharpham Farm is a working organic farm managed for bio-diversity. We are part of the Natural England ‘Higher Level Stewardship’ Scheme. We raise organic produce including lamb, beef and eggs for sale, and make a number of wildlife products, most of which can be bought in our online shop. We also run several long term research projects which currently include, Badger TB Vaccination Deployment, Bumblebee Longevity and Farmland Bird Surveys. Using skills we practice on the farm we undertake countryside service contracts within the local area.

The day-to-day farm tasks are carried out by a dedicated team from the Robert Owen Communities charity who support  adults with learning disabilities.

Widening participation in nature conservation

We work in partnership with Robert Owen Communities (ROC), a local charity to provide work experience for adults with learning disabilities. These work experiences have a nature conservation theme running throughout and Ambios trainees and the ROC gang often team up to tackle projects together. These projects are delivered in any one of the different work areas of the farm;

  • Horticulture; growing nectar rich plants for sale and food for the residents
  • Woodwork; producing bat and bird boxes for sale and habitat creation on the farm
  • Conservation; a countryside team carrying out wildife projects around the farm including capturing and sharing wildlife stories and creating wildlife habitats
  • Animal care; fulfilling our environmental aims for the land as well as caring for our animals; livestock grazing, animal husbandry
  • Forestry; woodland management and producing firewood for the many woodburners on the farm

Venue Facilities and Eco-accommodation

We have excellent venue facilities to provide fantastic learning opportunities and comfortable eco-accommodation for a range of events. The Linhay provides a space for indoor learning and discussion and eco-accommodation is provided in either the Bunkhouse or the Yurt.  Our new study block provides dedicated work desks and laboratory space in the heart of the farm. Our eco-accommodation can also be hired for holidays, ideal for those looking to escape to the country and get away from it all. For those looking for more active holidays, our Nature Conservation Holidays combine our cosy eco-accommodation with hands-on nature conservation activities.

farm stories

Lower Sharpham Farm provides year-round nature conservation activities and learners staying at the farm get involved in the projects running at any given time. These may be;

  • seasonal (summer surveys, winter habitat works)
  • themed (land based, species focused, involving technology)
  • collaborative (working with the ROC team in the garden, or with the animals, joining local volunteers tackling conservation projects)
  • in the community (helping on the market stall, working on other sites/helping our network of partners)
  • with people (helping with events including our annual bioblitz or educational farm visits)

Follow us on social media where you can get an up to date picture of whats going on down on the farm and look at our training and volunteering pages to see how you can get involved