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The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has announced that its second Big Farmland Bird Count will take place between 7th and 15th February 2015. This leading UK research charity is asking farmers, landowners, birdwatchers and gamekeepers to spend 30 minutes recording the species and number of birds seen on one particular area of the firm this coming winter.

GWCT research is becoming a beacon of light in an increasingly challenging environment for game and wildlife. As wildlife populations continue to decline, is there too much talk and not enough action? The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust will be posing this question at its 2014 Members’ Conference on the 29th October 2014. 

Concern is growing that food supplies would run out in days without imports. Despite more efficient use of fertilisers and the advantages of modern technology, crop yields have stagnated over the past 20 years and UK self-sufficiency is the lowest for nearly two decades. According to recent research this could be a serious indication that our soil is worn out. 

Places are still available on the part-time keepers' course run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) in Leicestershire this September. The course will be held over the weekend of Friday 19 - Sunday 21 September at the GWCT's Allerton Project farm at Loddington and will be run by highly experienced GWCT advisors Mike Swan and Roger Draycott.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is pleased to announce the winners of the third annual Julian Gardner Award photography competition. Shaun Barrow of Barnstaple in Devon has won the adult category for his dramatic picture of a cuckoo, while Mairi Eyres of Llangedwyn, Powys captured a delicate image of a beetle and has been named the winner of the 16-and-under category.

Richard Benyon, the renowned wildlife-friendly Berkshire MP, who was awarded the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s prestigious 2013 Cotswold Grey Partridge Trophy for the miles of wildlife habitats that he has created for this rare bird, recently passed on the baton to the latest winner of this coveted prize.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) received considerable praise this week from the Secretary of State for the Environment Owen Paterson MP, who toured the GWCT’s Allerton Project Research Farm in Loddington, Leicestershire, where research, conservation and practical farming go hand in hand.

Our 2014 Scottish Auction took place at Prestonfield on Thursday 8th May. A wide range of lots in both the live and silent auctions were generously bid for by more than 400 guests, making this the Trust’s most successful event so far this year.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) – who have been at the sharp-end of developing innovative and well proven techniques for restoring farmland wildlife such as conservation headlands, beetle banks and wild flower seed mixes, were in an upbeat mood about the new ‘greening’ measures announced by Defra this week.

Ashley Cooper of H P Cooper (Farms) Ltd, Gestingthorpe, Essex, has been given one of the highest accolades in the farming industry; the ‘FWAG Silver Lapwing Award’. The award, which is sponsored by Waitrose, recognises the extensive efforts Ashley makes to protect and enhance the countryside. The farm was chosen from a national shortlist of four farms, each selected for demonstrating outstanding commitment to good environmental practices, alongside the production of food.