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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. 

The GWCT has been contributing to a study commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to investigate how corvid traps are used under the current General Licence system in Scotland. The next stage of this project is now being conducted by SASA, who are asking for volunteers to help keep simple records of their catches and to allow SASA staff to remotely monitor trap activity using trail cameras.

A 1.25 MILLION Euro EU Life+ funded project will help farmers in the Avon Valley between Salisbury and Christchurch reverse the fortunes of the iconic and much revered lapwing, which has suffered a dramatic decline over the past 20 years. The species is red-listed as a bird of conservation concern in the UK and conservationists believe that as well as habitat loss, predation of nests by foxes and crows is a major factor limiting lapwing recovery.

The appearance of new insect species, particularly grasshoppers and crickets on the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project research farm in Leicestershire indicates that climate change is having an impact on wildlife, according to the Trust’s researchers.

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.

Researchers at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Scotland have recorded the earliest ever hatch of a red grouse on its core count sites.

Bird watchers could play a vital role in the conservation of one of our most secretive and elusive birds, by volunteering to go out counting woodcock during the summer months when the males are performing their enigmatic roding activity at dusk to attract receptive females.

This October the best-selling historian and journalist Sir Max Hastings is to give a talk on the outbreak of the First World War, with the proceeds going to the UK's leading wildlife research charity, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).

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.

From the list of quarry species that the shooting community hold most dear, woodcock must be top of the list. Showing concern for its status, investing in research carried out by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, and willingly getting involved in projects that can help to conserve the bird, all go to prove that the elusive woodcock is a much treasured and prized species.