The Wildlife Trusts raise £25m in a year to kickstart nature’s recovery

First anniversary sees charity lead vision for wildlife across 30% of land and sea by 2030

New nature recovery project map shows on-the-ground examples

A year ago today, The Wildlife Trusts launched a vision to put nature into recovery across at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 and started an appeal to raise £30 million to begin the work. Today we are delighted to announced that in just twelve months we have raised over £25 million. 35 important nature recovery projects are underway to restore land for wildlife.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with once-common creatures such as hedgehogs, red squirrels and sparrows now critically endangered, and huge reductions in the abundance of wildlife across the board. The Wildlife Trusts are determined to reverse the trend.

Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts said:

“We are thrilled to have raised £25 million in the past year to fund our vision for 30 by 30 and we’re extremely grateful to every single person who has helped make this happen. It’s fantastic that people want to support our work to reverse wildlife declines and address the climate emergency.

“But this is only the first step to mend our broken natural world by 2030. While The Wildlife Trusts are taking urgent action, some aspects of the Government’s agenda threaten to undermine good work on the ground, by weakening habitat regulations which protect wildlife, weakening the planning rules that guard the environment, and shrinking the powers and resources needed by the Environment Agency to stop river pollution.

“The Government needs to invest far more in nature – we know that more than a £1 billion annually is needed to create and restore wild places. A recent report found that only about 3% of land in England is genuinely protected for nature – yet the Government wrongly persists in claiming the amount protected is 26%. It’s time they faced the huge scale of the task and stumped up the funds to match.”

Coincidentally, the Government launched a 30 by 30 vision on the same day as The Wildlife Trusts a year ago – but believes that far more land is protected for nature than is the reality. The Wildlife Trusts maintain that National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – which the Government says count towards 30% – are landscape not wildlife designations, and many of these places are severely depleted of nature. While National Parks and AONBs contain some high-quality natural areas, they cannot count in their entirety towards 30%. Only those areas which are protected and well managed for nature should be included.

The Wildlife Trusts are calling for a new designation in England, Wildbelt, to protect land that is put into recovery for nature.

Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (c) Frieda Rummenhohl

Honeygar Somerset Wildlife Trust (c) Kirby Everett

Pewley Down Fields Surrey Wildlife Trust (c) Surrey Wildlife Trust

Wild Woodbury Dorset Wildlife Trust (c) James Burland

The Wildlife Trusts’ latest 30 by 30 projects include:

· Pewley Down Fields – Surrey Wildlife Trust: Acquisition of rare chalk grassland, home to skylarks and rare butterflies, saved by rapid community action

· Pencnwc Mawr Wood – The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales: Increasing the size of a rare Welsh temperate woodland, scarcer than tropical rainforest

· Astonbury Wood – Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust: Purchase of long-term lease to manage this irreplaceable ancient woodland and secure its future for nature

· Peatland Progress – Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust: Pioneering work on a grand scale tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and eco-anxiety

· Honeygar – Somerset Wildlife Trust: Nature is getting to work on this former dairy farm by re-wetting drained peat soils to lock-up carbon

· Wild Woodbury– Dorset Wildlife Trust: Wild Woodbury is England’s first large-scale community rewilding project on former farmland

President of The Wildlife Trusts, broadcaster and biologist, Liz Bonnin said:

“I'm incredibly proud of The Wildlife Trusts and everyone involved in raising this astonishing sum in such a short time – it just goes to show how much we really do care about the natural world and our precious wildlife. Together, we can bring nature back – and we can do it at the scale needed to address our biodiversity and climate crises. A heartfelt thank you for supporting the magnificent work of the Trusts and the inspirational projects that will get us there. Time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done!”

New nature recovery project map unveiled to help achieve 30 by 30

Today, The Wildlife Trusts unveil a new online map which gives examples of a range of projects underway to achieve nature’s recovery. Nature needs more, bigger, wilder landscapes that are joined together to allow wildlife to thrive, rebuild natural abundance and help species and habitats adapt to climate change. The projects include nature-friendly farmland, urban green spaces, gardens, woodlands, rivers, nature reserves and more. View the map HERE. The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 by 30 appeal asks people, individuals, corporates and communities to donate here.

Editor's Notes

Case Studies

· Pewley Down Fields – Surrey Wildlife Trust: Acquisition of rare chalk grassland, home to skylarks and rare butterflies, saved by rapid community action

Pewley Down Fields, has been saved for people and nature by rapid community action to buy this rare chalk grassland; home to nesting skylarks, chalk hill blue butterflies, bumblebees, wild thyme and orchids. An extraordinary community bid, from Surrey Wildlife Trust, a generous benefactor and public donations, raised over a million pounds in just three weeks.

Offered for sale earlier this year, the 15 hectares of fields (37.5 acres), part of a farm, will become a new nature reserve, leased to Surrey Wildlife Trust for 500 years. Lead donor, Julia Stephenson, who grew up on the rare chalk grassland fields, knew she wanted to help save them for future generations. Julia’s generosity followed in family footsteps, her mother bought neighbouring chalk downland, now Rosamund Meadows, to save for nature in 1985.

Pewley Down Fields, alongside Pewley Down Nature Reserve and Rosamund Meadows, will form part of a huge swathe of 80 acres of rare grassland protected for nature where wildlife will flourish. The sale of Pewley Down Fields is due to complete within weeks. Pewley Down Fields donate here.

· Pencnwc Mawr Wood – The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales: Increasing the size of a rare Welsh temperate woodland, scarcer than tropical rainforest

Pencnwc Mawr Wood is a rare surviving remnant of the Welsh temperate rainforest, scarcer even than tropical rainforests. Its lush broadleaved trees are home to breeding hazel dormice, barbastelle bats, both classed as vulnerable to extinction, and butterflies in woodland glades. The temperate rainforest once stretched along the western uplands and into deep Welsh river valleys.

The Wildlife Trust launched a £125,000 appeal and bought the 13 hectares (33 acres) Pencnwc Woodland. Linking Pencnwc Mawr with the neighbouring Pengelli Forest National Nature Reserve, has increased the size of the reserve by a fifth, to create 78 hectares (193 acres) woodland which will be more resilient, and secure the future for a wide range of wildlife from polecats to bank voles.

Extending Pengelli is the beginning of the Trust’s vision to encourage local people, farmers and other landowners to gently transform their landscape into a more natural, and sustainable environment. The Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales now needs fund to integrate and manage the two woodlands please donate here.

· Astonbury Wood – Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust: Purchase of long-term lease to manage this irreplaceable ancient woodland and secure its future for nature

Swathes of spring bluebells, ancient oaks, autumn fungi and bird song make Astonbury Wood a cherished haven for wildlife and people. Close to Stevenage, the wood is home to bats, badgers, and the greater spotted woodpecker. When it came on the market earlier this year, it took just five weeks for Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust to raise the money to buy a long-term lease to manage this irreplaceable ancient woodland and secure its future for nature.

A successful local petition to the wood’s owner, Hertfordshire County Council, enabled Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust to become the preferred buyer. The local community answered the call for donations, eventually topping the original appeal target by £74,000, raising a total of £178,000. The 22ha (54 acre) local wildlife site is owned by Hertfordshire County Council, and the Wildlife Trust is now in the final stages of securing the lease.

· Peatland Progress – Beds, Cambs, Northants Wildlife Trust: Pioneering work on a grand scale tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and eco-anxiety

Peatland Progress is a pioneering project tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and the climate anxieties of the next generation head-on. It aims to complete a vast sustainable, working wet fen landscape, rich in wildlife; to develop climate change science, and to put the fens at the heart of local prosperity and wellbeing.

BCN Wildlife Trust is planning to buy land which will join the ‘North’ and ‘South’ parts of the nationally important Great Fen, extending a new vision and building on work which is already restoring peatland, and locking in carbon. Field scale trials of ‘wet farming’, with new crops such as bullrush, will be expanded to farm scale.

Showing the community on-the-ground action for a healthier climate, the project hopes to ease young people’s climate anxiety and worries about the future. The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded Peatland Progress a Heritage Horizon grant of more than £8 million to continue its visionary work. Peatland Progress partners: World leaders in climate science, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and University of East London experts in paludiculture, or wet farming.

· Honeygar – Somerset Wildlife Trust: Nature is getting to work on this former dairy farm by re-wetting drained peat soils to lock-up carbon

Somerset Wildlife Trust is letting nature get to work on this former dairy farm at the heart of the Somerset Levels by re-wetting drained peat soils to lock-up carbon, allowing nature to take over and ‘wild’ the 87 hectare site (214 acres) which backs onto the River Brue. The emphasis is on restoring natural processes and seeing what comes, but the expectation is that over time it will become a new wetland with abundant wildlife including lapwing, snipe, skylarks, egrets and otters.

Honeygar is a vital missing link in a nature network and creates a wildlife corridor between Avalon Marshes and nearby nature reserves allowing wildlife to thrive at landscape scale, offering more space for nature as it adapts to climate change challenges. It will trial techniques for improving carbon storage and water management. A major appeal is planned. Monitoring of the site has started thanks to funds from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

· Wild Woodbury– Dorset Wildlife Trust: Wild Woodbury is England’s first large-scale community rewilding project on former farmland

Wetlands, woodlands, wildlife and people will get the chance to thrive in a new project, which will transform former farmland into a haven for nature’s recovery. Dorset Wildlife Trust is leading England’s first large-scale community rewilding project on 170 hectares (420 acres) near Bere Regis.

Nature will give a guiding hand, with 150 ha of the site to be restored using rewilding principles, letting nature take care of itself by restoring natural processes. The project will also create a new community woodland, and work with the community about opportunities for potential orchards, together with space for sustainable food growing, as well as job and volunteering opportunities. 30 ha of wetland will be restored. The site will be managed as a healthy eco-system, to capture carbon and prevent nitrates from running into local water courses and eventually the nearby Poole Harbour.

The Trust is currently raising £100,000 in funds to manage the site. We have the POWER founder, Julia Davies, led the purchase, funds also came from generous legacies from Trust members and supporters, as well as significant investments from BCP Council and Dorset Council as part of wider nitrate mitigation measures. Donate to Wild Woodbury here.

References

· Sept 2020: The Wildlife Trusts launch £30 million appeal to kickstart nature’s recovery across 30% of land and sea by 2030 – see media release here.

· UK Government announces commitment to 30% of land for nature by 2030 here – The Wildlife Trusts respond here.

· “A recent report found that only about 3% of land is genuinely protected for nature” – Achieving 30x30 in England on land and sea – Wildlife and Countryside Link report here

· The Wildlife Trusts’ preliminary analysis of the Planning White Paper is here and here.

· Wildlife and Countryside Link - Comprehensive Spending Review 2020 – figure of over £1bn needed for nature’s recovery here and here.

· Wildbelt briefing here – The Wildlife Trusts are calling for this new designation in England.

Why putting 30% into recovery is our target

Our campaign takes its lead from The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This is an agreement between countries based on natural and biological resources, with 3 main goals: to protect biodiversity; to use biodiversity without destroying it; and, to share any benefits from genetic diversity equally. The CBD has proposed that at least 30% of the world’s land and seas should be protected in the next decade to prevent the destruction of the planet’s biodiversity, as part of a global framework to protect the Earth’s plant and wildlife. The 30% threshold of wildlife habitat in a landscape has been worked out by looking at a range of different species and their requirements. At less than 30% cover, habitat patches are too small and isolated, and species richness (the number of species in any one area), abundance and survival rates decline. This is what has led to the UK becoming one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. Where habitat cover is greater than 30% habitat patches will, on average, be larger and the distance between patches will typically be less, resulting in greater connectivity. This means that if local extinctions do occur, other populations of the same species can move into the area easily.

The Wildlife Trusts are here to make the world wilder and to make nature part of everyone’s lives. We are a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 850,000 members and 38,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of our members, we care for and restore special places for nature on land and run marine conservation projects and collect vital data on the state of our seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year.