Donkeys go Green

At The Donkey Sanctuary we care about the world we live and work in.  To help, we have various environmentally friendly initiatives in place, including:

Composting our donkey 'doo'

• Caring for over 2,700 donkeys means that we have a lot of donkey 'doo' to deal with! We are now implementing a new composting process on all of our farms. Where installed, it has dramatically reduced the volume of waste by over 50% and the time it takes to decompose from 12 months to just 12 weeks.
• The end product is an environmentally friendly produced, soil-enriching conditioner.  It is used as an alternative to artificial fertiliser on our land and in turn, the resulting grass grown feeds the donkeys, bringing the recycling process full circle.

Devon Hedge Banks

• With over 900 acres of land on our five farms in Devon, we are keen to build and preserve the county's famous Devon Hedge Banks.  These consist of an earth bank with hedge plants established along the top. They provide a valuable wildlife habitat to rabbits, voles and shrews in the banks and dormice and local birdlife in the hedges.  They also provide a windbreak for our donkeys, farm livestock and crops.

Safe havens during hay making

• We make our own hay during late spring and summer on all of our farms to help towards the feeding costs of the donkeys.  To help local wildlife we leave a buffer strip around the outside of the fields during hay making to provide a safe haven and a place where seeds can mature to provide a food source for them.

Encouraging local wildlife to move in

• On various farms we have installed owl boxes and natural ponds to encourage ducks, frogs, newts and other pond life.  We have also worked with other animal welfare organisations to release rescued/rehabilitated badgers and foxes onto our land.

Woodland Conservation

• Where we have woodland areas on our farms, we very often create log piles as these are full of nooks and crannies where insects, mice and even bats can find sanctuary.

Recycling and environmental initiatives

• We recycle plastic (including the wrapping from Haylage bales and dust free donkey bedding), office paper and card.  Our Hayloft Restaurant uses local produce where possible and staff use fair trade tea and coffee and support our policy to save energy by turning off all lights and office equipment after use each day.

Visiting the Sanctuary

• On our Visitor brochure and on our website we provide details of local transport and foot/cycle paths that are close to or pass by the Sanctuary.

Print Page