Our work on land

Saving the UK’s wildlife and wild places and helping them to recover from past losses and damage has been a central aim of The Wildlife Trusts throughout our history. For more than a century, we have been saving, protecting and standing up for wildlife and wild places.
 

The way land is managed in the UK has a huge impact on wildlife

Whether it's for farming, leisure, or important natural services like managing water, human activity shapes the landscape. 

The greatest cause of past and continuing wildlife loss is disrupting the natural function of landscapes. 

Our work on land has two key themes: bringing wildlife back and influencing policies and laws

Our wildlife and wild places are in crisis. From ancient woodlands to coastal wetlands, nature is under pressure and squeezed into smaller pockets.

Today the pressures on nature are wide and complex so we save wildlife and wild places in different ways.

Protecting and restoring wildlife and wild places

Our on-the-ground work to bring wildlife and wild places back includes: 

• Managing 2,600 nature reserves, across the UK, Alderney and the Isle of Man
• Helping others to manage land for wildlife, by providing advice and support to farmers, businesses local councils and schools
• Saving wildlife at risk by running targeted conservation programmes for species like water voles, pine martens and beavers
• Helping nature's recovery by restoring habitats over large areas of land, like river corridors

Explore more about some of our vital work with wildlife and wild places. 
 

Influencing policies and laws

It’s more important than ever to push for strong environmental laws and policies that protect and value nature. These laws can prevent pollution and the destruction of habitats, and make sure that nature and the climate are considered in decisions about farming, housing and infrastructure, along with human activities around rivers and in the ocean. 

With colleagues at other environmental charities, we work at local and national level to:

• Strengthen laws and policies that could benefit wildlife
• Reduce the impact of legislation that might harm wildlife

We use our experience of what works on the ground to campaign for laws and policies that help wildlife. This includes speaking to and working with parliamentarians across parties, and running campaigns with the help of our supporters. 

People need nature. We need clean air and water, healthy soil to grow food, pollinators, trees, the list is endless. Without strong protections, habitats can be bulldozed, rivers polluted, and wildlife pushed closer to extinction. But when laws and strong and enforced, they help to create a wilder, healthier future for everyone.