How a lost road helped rewild a rare landscape

When the Hindhead Tunnel opened in 2011 it was said to have "surpassed expectations" by finally removing one of the worst bottlenecks on the A3.

But its more significant legacy may be environmental - by taking the road under the landscape instead of through it, the project sparked one of the most successful rewilding projects in southern England.

The A3 cut directly across Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and one of the largest remaining areas of lowland heath in the South East.

The opening of the tunnel allowed the old section of the A3 to be closed and removed entirely.

The National Trust, supported by a long‑term Countryside Stewardship agreement, re‑established the natural contours of the land, replanting native species and reconnecting habitats that had been severed for generations.

This also prompted protected species, such as woodlark and nightjar, to breed successfully on the restored heath.

Matt Cusack, a National Trust Ranger, said: "The tunnel opened in July 2011, and in August 2011 we heard our first nightjars cheery in the Punchbowl.

"They have never been recorded nesting in this end of the Punchbowl," the ranger added.

The project also improved air quality, as Hindhead village had previously been declared an Air Quality Management Area due to high levels of nitrogen dioxide from queuing traffic.

Within two years of the tunnel's opening, pollution levels had fallen below the legal limit, and the designation was lifted in 2015.

With the road gone, wildlife can now move around freely, re‑establishing natural corridors that had previously been blocked.

"That's the wonder of this," Cusack said. "They took away that road noise, and the wildlife came back."

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