A Living Landscape

“This is the future of conservation. With the onset of climate change, wildlife and society face their biggest challenge yet. We have spent 100 years safeguarding wildlife havens. Now we must expand on these and create ‘A Living Landscape’ where our nature reserves are integral parts of wider functioning landscapes and not isolated oases.

“This work is already under way and there is much to do but our large-scale Living Landscape schemes will help to alleviate floods, control pollution and help us cope with extremes of temperature. We have already started to achieve so much and are optimistic about the future because of the many people, partners and communities who share our ambition.”

- Paul Wilkinson, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of  A Living Landscape

What is A Living Landscape?

Oystercatcher at Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust's Waves on

Heath Living Landscape scheme: Bryan Thomas

A healthy future for wildlife and people

A Living Landscape is The Wildlife Trusts' vision for the future of the UK. It is a new way of thinking about how we manage land to do more for wildlife, people and the economy. In Living Landscapes:

• Wildlife is abundant and flourishing, both in the countryside and our towns and cities
• Whole landscapes and ecosystems have been restored
• Wildlife is able to move freely through these landscapes and adapt to the effects of climate change;
• Communities are benefitting fully from the fundamental services that healthy ecosystems provide
• Everyone has access to wildlife-rich green spaces and can enjoy and be inspired by the natural world.

The Wildlife Trusts are working with partners and local communities to create A Living Landscape across the whole of the UK. We are restoring damaged and fragmented blocks of habitat, reconnecting these habitats and linking them to the green space in our cities, towns and villages to rebuild nature in our midst.

Thinking big – a landscape-scale approach to nature conservation

Wildlife needs room to move, especially in the face of climate change. The nature reserves we manage are unique and special havens, alive with plants, birds, mammals and insects.

But the wider landscape surrounding these sites is often inhospitable to wildlife. Intensive farmland, towns and cities, busy roads and railways, all make it difficult for wildlife to move between safe havens. As a conservation organisation, we have had to think differently about how to protect wildlife in this modern landscape.

Through Living Landscape Schemes, The Wildlife Trusts are joining the dots, making the whole landscape more wildlife-friendly. Linking isolated reserves allows wildlife to move freely, to trickle out through the landscape. Eventually, we hope this will mean we all experience the splendour of nature as part of our daily lives.

And our work doesn't stop at the shoreline. The Wildlife Trusts also have a vision for Living Seas, where wildlife thrives from the depths of the ocean to the coastal shallows. Find out more here.

What is a Living Landscape scheme?

Family at Great Fen Living Landscape scheme:

Beds, Cambs, Northants and Peterborough Wildlife Trust

The Wildlife Trusts are already at work to create the transformation to A Living Landscape. Over 100 Living Landscape schemes are underway across the whole of the UK, covering an area of over 1.5m hectares.

Each Living Landscape scheme covers a large area of land: a naturally functioning landscape (such as a river catchment) encompassing several Wildlife Trust reserves and other important wildlife areas. The schemes see individual Wildlife Trusts up and down the UK working with partners, landowners and local communities to restore the natural landscape.

These local schemes are all pieces of the jigsaw that will combine to form the wider Living Landscape we envisage: a national network of high-quality natural areas for people and wildlife.

Joining the dots

In achieiving A Living Landscape we will continue to:

• Restore and enhance existing wildlife-rich places including Wildlife Trust reserves, Local Wildlife Sites and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
• Recreate vital wildlife habitats throughout the scheme area.
• Reconnect wildlife areas by creating wildlife corridors.

The wider landscape

We also want to make the wider landscape more wildlife-friendly, so that wildlife is not restricted to reserves but is present everywhere. Through A Living Landscape we are influencing land use policy and land management in the wider countryside, making it easier for wildlife to move around and providing more opportunities for wildlife to re-colonise the landscape.

Image: Farmed landscape in Wiltshire by David Hall

People and communities

A Living Landscape aims to reconnect people with the natural world and promote the benefits it provides - from the technical and functional (food production, clean water), to the spiritual (nature makes people happy!)

We work closely with local communities to promote the wildlife on their doorstep. Living Landscape schemes improve access to wildlife and green spaces and provide opportunities for recreation, education and hands-on volunteering. In fact, our volunteers are often vital to the success of the schemes.

Image - Trent Holmes reed planting: NPower

Sustainable local economies

Many Living Landscape schemes also make sustainable, low carbon contributions to the local economy by providing employment opportunities, promoting locally grown food or marketing conservation grade beef from grazing herds.

Image - Suffolk Wildlife Trust Valley Fens: Steve Aylward

Discover more about The Wildlife Trusts’ Living Landscape schemes here.

Use the interactive Living Landscape Scheme map to find a scheme near you and to see how we are creating Living Landscapes across the UK.