APS Isle of Wight

The APS site at Arreton on the Isle of Wight supply a range of tomato varieties to M&S from beefs to cherry types.

The glasshouses are essentially closed systems where the environment is carefully controlled so the farming system is not naturally reliant on biodiversity for ecosystem services like pollination, predator control and the breakdown of soil organic matter. Instead, the M&S Farming with Nature Indicator and Innovation Farm Project is focusing on how the APS site fits within the wider Isle of Wight landscape which was designated as a UNESCO Bioshpere site in 2019. With help from FERA and GWCT the business is working to provide a catalyst for engaging with the wider community to enhance biodiversity on the island.

The new English Land Management Scheme will be looking to encourage collaboration between farmers and communities in the future. Enhanced payments will be available for this type of collaborative working and we hope to develop a blueprint of how this might be possible within horticulture history. We have explored private funding opportunities like biodiversity net gain but the opportunities are limited on the Isle of Wight due to minimal development on the island.  A publicly available mapping tool called LandApp has be used, along with high resolution remotely sensed data to map red squirrel habitat connectivity and we have also used a drone camera to capture detailed habitat data along the Wroxal tributary which flows into the East Yar River.  On site the team are using Seek, the app from i-naturalist that will identify species of plant and insect from a photograph to help monitor biodiversity on site.  They have their own QR code so all the species recorded by staff on site go into the same database.  Some of the staff have also had training in how to monitor pollinators so the impact of habitat management work on pollinators can be monitored.