Press Releases - June 2025

The Duke’s Challenge charity event held at Alnwick in Northumberland has raised an unprecedented £685,000 for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) - the UK’s leading independent wildlife research charity.

A survey of ground nesting birds on around 3,000 acres of moorland in north Northumberland has shown dramatic declines of iconic threatened species 10 years after predation management ceased as part of a controlled experiment spanning two decades.

The GWCT, after ten years of conservation success, has taken the difficult decision not to renew its lease on Auchnerran Farm when it expires later this year. Our goal was to transform a formerly neglected yet biodiverse landscape into a profitable and sustainable farming operation. Over the last decade this vision has been realised.

Having started his GWCT journey spending a year as a BSc student in 2010, Nick joined GWCT’s Uplands Research team in 2017 with a PhD in Biodiversity and Community Ecology and has worked on a variety of both English and Scottish projects, including research on red and black grouse, capercaillie and wading birds, and most notably has led on GWCT research projects on mountain hares in Scotland.