June

Thanks to the generosity of our guests and supporters, the Foraging Feast successfully raised over £10,000 for the GWCT, an incredible achievement that will have a fantastic impact.

For many GWCT supporters, the importance of pollinators hardly needs explaining. So rather than rehearse the usual messages about bees and butterflies, perhaps it is more useful to ask: where should we be focusing our efforts if we want the biggest return for wildlife?

The new Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Stephen Morgan, is to be welcomed into his important new role during one of the most consequential months in the department’s history – the rollout of what must, surely, be the final iteration of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) after a decade of arrested development and false starts under his six predecessors.

On a surprisingly sunny afternoon during an otherwise extremely wet week in early June, a group of South Yorkshire farmers dedicated to grey partridge recovery gathered for a farm walk to celebrate their farmer cluster’s successes so far.

Too often we sit in our various roles, comfortable in the knowledge we have and the language we use, without considering how others might perceive what we are saying or even understand.

The latest edition of Fieldsports Journal guest-edited by Nick von Westenholz GWCT CEO is hot off the press.

For barn owls, nesting sites have become an important factor in the life cycle. Loss of hollows in old trees through woodland clearance and replanting, the conversion of traditional barns on farmsteads to dwellings for humans, and the need for modern grain stores to be wildlife-free zones for food hygiene purposes have all contributed to the housing problem.

England’s flagship farming scheme returns, but funding gaps and policy missteps threaten both nature and food production.

Recently we have been involved in an alternative auditing scheme called Trusted Game, an audit-based scheme aimed to ensure the health and welfare of gamebirds on shoots and game farms. It draws on proven systems from other industries and offers a practical route to achieving high standards, providing reassurance to the shoots, tenants, landowners and consumers.

Later this year, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust will be working to develop fair co-existence between wildcats and people. GWCT will liaise with estates and practitioners in the wildcat release area to facilitate tracking and develop best practice guidance to mitigate gamebird impacts. The Trust also aims to build evidence recording to support wildcat capture and relocation licences, engaging with key partners, communities and government agencies.