Its objectives include:
- Preserving and protecting areas of open downland interspersed with woodland, trees and scrub on Graffham Down and in the neighbourhood of Graffham in order to preserve, enhance and to re-introduce species of flora and wildlife, which have been indigenous to Graffham and the neighbourhood, but which are, or may be, in danger of extinction or substantial diminution in numbers.
- To allow residents of the Parish of Graffham and others access, on foot only, to the reserves.
Initially one small area of land just to the south of the South Downs Way, now known as Long Meadow, was involved. Some ten years later, two adjacent areas to the north were added, now known as Bowley’s Field and Scott’s Corner, in memory of two of the original trustees.
In the autumn of 2005, the Sustainable Development Fund and a Chichester District Council biodiversity grant made funds available to start clearing further areas of scrub and larger trees, creating a much longer corridor of open land stretching from existing farmed land in the east to the boundary with Heyshott in the west, a distance of just over one mile. This brings the total area under the trust’s management to 31 hectares (77 acres).
Able-bodied friends of the trust carry out much of the maintenance work, at ‘work parties’ in spring and autumn, but other heavier work is undertaken by professional contractors. In the autumn, a small flock of sheep is introduced to graze the reserves in a natural way.
As a result of the trust’s active management, varieties of wildflowers and insects (including butterflies) are increasing each year as well as wider evidence of birds, mammals (including dormice) and other wildlife.
To encourage people to become aware of these reserves and the progress made, the trust hosts a butterfly walk in spring and a ‘picnic day’ in the summer, both in its reserves, and an annual quiz in the village.
During its picnic in 2024, on Sunday 21 July, the rare Ringed Border moth was spotted for the first time in West Sussex.