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Sir Jim Paice, Chairman of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), has called on people who care about the British countryside to help the charity challenge misinformation and ensure that policy decisions are based on science.

The latest Savills and GWCT game and conservation benchmarking survey shows that Covid hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for fieldsports, with 80% of shoot owners expressing optimism for this season – the highest in three years.

Participation in an annual nationwide survey of farmland birds has more than doubled. Britain’s farmers and gamekeepers have shown their long-term commitment to conservation alongside productive land-use by completing this year’s GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count in record numbers.

“We must use scientific evidence to convey to the general public the increased benefit to flora and fauna that occurs when managing land for game well,” believes Alex Keeble, newly appointed Game and Wildlife Advisor at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). In his new role Alex, as a former gamekeeper, is well-placed to provide advice on game management, conservation and identifying biodiversity gain, based on the research produced by the GWCT’s team of 70 scientists.

Following our involvement in the research and subsequent roll-out of a methodology for counting mountain hares at night approved by NatureScot, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is pleased to be part of the project group now seeking to extend recording nationally to help inform conservation efforts.

A new collaboration aims to show how farmers can work together to achieve the recovery of some of the UK’s most threatened farmland bird species, including grey partridge, curlew and lapwing. The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is working with a group of Shropshire farmers to establish the Corvedale Farmland Wildlife Project, which will put farmland conservation techniques based on the Trust’s extensive research into practice on the ground.

A year on from a joint statement about moving away from using lead in shotguns to shoot game, the GWCT is keen to know if your habits have changed and whether you had tested the alternatives.

As the five-year transition towards sustainable ammunition continues, it is to be welcomed that large parts of the shooting community have recognised the need for change.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) - the UK's leading wildlife research charity - has launched a new online fundraising challenge to help raise money for its vital conservation work.

The GWCT is offering undergraduate students the opportunity to work in real-life conservation research. Each year the Trust hosts students studying ecology, conservation and computer science-related degrees for one-year placements as part of their degrees. Students work alongside some of the leading scientists in their subjects on important game and wildlife conservation research.