Blogs

Environmental organisations are calling for more land designations in their first annual progress report on the Government’s commitment to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. However, designations in themselves will not achieve what they seek - the restoration of biodiversity. 

A few weeks into our placement at GWCT, and we students get to take part in some 4 x 4 training! All fun and games, until you realise you need to rewire your brain from everything your younger self was taught - even emergency brakes entail something different!

Writing a will is never easy. Thinking about what you might like to happen when you’re not around is a difficult thought process and, of course, your mind instantly turns to making sure that those you love have a secure future. As a supporter of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust – have you ever considered a gift to support the countryside you love as well?

For many years Well Fed Birds have been providing farmers and gamekeepers across the country with bespoke supplementary feed mixes during the Hungry Gap.

While there are ten weeks left until Christmas, it’s never too early to make sure you’re ready in good time. This year we’re advising customers to get their orders in earlier than usual with 19 days of Royal Mail strikes taking place in the coming weeks.

The UK has long been known as a country of animal lovers, with our wildlife and countryside inspiring songs and art for centuries. However, in the UK we are also sadly one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and a number of our beloved species face declining populations for a variety of causes. This unfortunately includes our songbirds, with many species having seen a sharp decline in populations.

Drones might be the latest recreational gadget; however, their aerial imaging capabilities make them excellent tools for habitat and wildlife research. To discuss this further, staff members from across the trust recently met up at the GWCT Allerton Project, equipped with some state-of-the-art drones and eager placement student pilots.

Immortalised by Kenneth Grahame as poetic dreamer Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, the water vole is today a rare sight in Britain’s countryside. Habitat loss and predation have diminished the population of Britain’s largest vole by over 90%, and they are currently believed to be extinct in 97% of their former range. So, witnessing an attempt to re-establish a population in the lower Avon Valley on the Hampshire-Dorset border recently was a rare privilege indeed.

It's UK Soils Awareness Week 2022 from 10-16th October and we recently hosted a fascinating webinar on soil carbon with Professor David Powlson, who led the research on carbon cycling at Rothamsted Research. You can watch the video of the webinar here.