Press Releases - 2026

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and country clothing brand Schöffel Country are thrilled to announce the 28 finalists for the 2026 Schöffel Countryside Awards. 

Ellie will be joining the Trust at the beginning of August, and will take on the strategic leadership of our charitable income streams from Jeremy Payne, who is retiring this summer as Director of Fundraising after nearly 10 years.

The results of the 2026 Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) show that farms providing supplementary feeding are supporting higher numbers of many farmland bird species whose breeding populations are declining nationally. 

Our tagged snipe have begun their migrations... where will they end up staying for the breeding season?

The Easter Special episode of BBC’s Countryfile was a true highlight of the holidays, featuring the conservation work behind thriving populations of lapwing and hares – both signs of spring across our countryside.

The launch of a groundbreaking farmer-led, catchment-scale conservation plan has been made possible by the formation of the Environmental Farmers Group. The EFG’s first Environmental Transition Plan measures the government’s goals of reversing biodiversity decline, improving water quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions against the stated commitment of EFG members in the Hampshire Avon catchment and demonstrates the farmers’ potential to meet and beat them.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Cymru has been awarded nearly £1m of government funding for a project aimed at halting the decline in curlew in Wales – a bird set to become extinct as a breeding population by 2033 if current trends continue.

Last chance to nominate your conservation heroes for the 2026 Schöffel Countryside Awards – in partnership with the GWCT 

A female curlew at the centre of a study by GWCT has broken the UK longevity record at the age of nearly 34. 

The national annual census of farmland birds – the Big Farmland Bird Count – is being extended by a week to give more farmers, land managers and other ‘working conservationists’ a chance to get out onto their land to count their birds.