NATURE RESERVES

The Wildlife Trusts safeguard and care for more than 2,200 nature reserves. Many of our nature reserves have a visitor centre where visitors can find out more about the reserve that they are visiting, get some refreshment and purchase wildlife friendly goods.

Whilst our prime purpose for managing reserves is the conservation of wildlife, we are keen that people have the opportunity to share in their beauty.
In woods and meadows, on heaths and moors, mountain and downland, and along our varied coasts, we invite you to experience the natural world by visiting wildlife on our nature reserves.

For information on the best 500 Wildlife Trusts reserves, order a copy of :

Wildlife Walks

Wildlife Walks priced at £14.99 is packed with all the information you need for a great day out, including over 500 of the Wildlife Trusts’ reserves throughout the UK, with details of what wildlife you can see, seasonal advice and over 400 original maps, illustrations and photographs, Wildlife Walks is and essential handbook for a great family day out. Order online today from Pan Macmillan books or by telephone on 020 7014 6000.

How to find nature reserve nearest to you

By going to the green feature box on the top right of this screen..

You can find the nature reserve nearest to where you live or where you are visiting.  Do this by simply selecting one of the local Trusts from the drop down menu, this will give you access to Wildlife Trust reserves in that local Trust area. This section is incomplete at the moment, so if there is nothing listed under that Trust, please visit the Trust's own website. Of course if you are a member, your local Trust will provide you with a comprehensive list and leaflets telling you all about the nature reserves in the area of your membership.

The Wildlife Trusts look after more than 2,200 nature reserves, some of these we own and some of which we manage for others. The listing proviced is a broad selection of nature reserves from across the whole of the UK - we hope to build on this listing in the future.

Whilst our prime purpose for managing reserves is the conservation of wildlife, we are keen for people to have the opportunity to share in their beauty.

What are nature reserves?

Apart from certain coastal areas, little of our countryside is natural - it has been influenced by man for many thousands of years.  And, in fact, this management is often the reason behind the great variety of wildlife (the word includes plants as well as animals) that we see today.

Nature reserves are places where wildlife is protected for its own sake, and this often means continuing or restoring  the old-time practices which them rich in the first place.

One example is the coppicing of woodland.  When the last ice age eased, a tangleed wildwood spread across much of the lowlands.  This was cleared for farming, and by medieval times the remaining woodland was patchy.  Much of it was worked as "coppice"' every seven to ten years trees and shrubs were cut to stumps which threw u a new head of straightish branches or "small wood" for many uses.  Set through this coppices were tall timber trees.

Strengthened by the open light after the cut, woodland flowers flourished and many woodland reserves are now coppiced to keep the bluebells strong.  Butterflies too; previously they were restricted to the few natural glades of the wildwood.  And birds; the nightingale, for example, likes the dense low growth of new coppice, but deserts it after seven years when it becomes more mature.

Another example of an old habitat is chalk downland; regular grazing by sheep keeps the ranker grasses at bay and allows wild flowers to flourish.

Most nature reserves have had that kind of history and they have somehow escaped the farming revolution of the last 60 or so years.  The green of the countryside disguises the damage it has suffered this century.  Many woodlands have been felled and replanted with conifers.  Grassland is sprayed to weed out the wild flowers, but it is just as damaging to feed it with fertilisers or slurry, for then the aggressive fodder grasses smother the flowers.  But anyway, most grassland is now ploughed and resown every five or so years and few flowers and butterflies survive.  The old hay meadows are no longer cut for hay, giving the flowers time to seed; instead, green silage is closely cropped earlier in the year.

By and large, nature reserves are places where this has not yet happened.

In addition, there are places such as quarries, railway cuttings and canals, which although originally "industrial" have become populated by a variety of plant and animal life.  Some of these are now nature reserves, or part of one.

And there are reserves of a third kind - planned and planted like a garden, but with wildlife and ecological principles in mind, a kind of showcase.  Some Wildlife Trusts have one alongside their HQ. 

Many of our members have built wildlife habitats in their own back gardens, blending traditionally planting with wildlife plants to encourage wildlife to visit their gardens.

Nature Reserves - information for visitors

At most reserves we ask visitors to keep to marked paths and trails. This is to ensure that disturbance to wildlife is kept to a minimum, and that plants or fragile habitats do not suffer heavy trampling. We recommend this also for visitors’ own safety as many reserves are on steep hillsides, cliff tops or alongside tidal estuaries. The Wildlife Trusts are continually working to improve facilities for visitors, building new bird hides and improving trails.

Where the terrain is suitable you will find that some of our nature reserves have paths suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

Many reserves have trail leaflets and interpretation boards.

Families and school children

Families and school children are welcome at all nature reserves. Some reserves have special facilities and events for school children. Please contact your local Wildlife Trust.