Press Releases - 2024

Researchers from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) Wales have developed a new and highly advanced drone technique that is revolutionising practical curlew conservation by allowing them to locate the nests of this elusive wader and work with farmers to protect the chicks from being killed by machinery or predators.

Results are in for the 4th year of the Raptor Transect Survey Project, administered by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) for Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups.

Starting in 1970, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) ongoing Sussex Study is the world’s longest running dataset on the cereal ecosystem, providing a robust indication of the national picture.

More than 30 bird boxes have been installed on farms across Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire to help swifts returning for the summer find suitable places to nest.

Farmers from the EFG have joined forces with Rothamsted Research to help improve river health and deliver other positive environmental outcomes. The partnership helped EFG members in the Wylye catchment in Wiltshire to design a farmer-led, water quality monitoring scheme, which will help them reduce farm pollution in the river.

A new sculpture unveiled in honour of the women who played part in the preparations for D-Day will also help our rare and threatened wading and coastal birds find a safe nesting site.

The latest survey of the UK’s resident Woodcock population has shown that numbers are still declining overall, albeit at a slower rate than before.

At a number of stations around the estate pupils heard short talks and saw demonstrations about the importance of woodland and forestry, what’s involved in moorland management, what a gamekeeper does, some basic game cookery, farming for sheep and cattle, and the importance and delivery of conservation in the countryside.

GWCT Scotland is excited to announce the launch of the Scottish Game Awards 2024, a new initiative designed to celebrate the outstanding contributions of sporting estates, game dealers, gamekeepers, and ghillies in supporting people, jobs, and nature. These awards are a collaborative effort between Scottish Land & Estates (SLE), GWCT Scotland, and Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups (SRMGs).

To help protect our curlew and reverse the decline, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has launched an appeal for funding to expand our research into the north of England, where the species is doing better than elsewhere in the UK, to understand regional variation in foraging behaviour and breeding success.