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  • Strategy

    Our 2024-2028 Strategy for a resilient working countryside The conservation world is collectively trying to tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. The GWCT has an important role to play because of the way in which we work with farmers, river keepers, gamekeepers, moorland...

  • Improved woodcock population monitoring shows concerning declines

    Key points The 2023 GWCT/BTO British Woodcock Survey showed the highest coverage to date, with the woodcock population at its lowest level, mainly due to significant losses in northern Scotland. Northern Scotland saw the biggest declines, while northern England experienced population growth, and...

  • Partners

    Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has a vision for a thriving countryside rich in game and other wildlife. Using its experience and reputation built over almost 100 years of working with people in the countryside, the GWCT is committed to developin...

  • Scottish Game Fair

    We are delighted that the 33rd GWCT Scottish Game Fair, with Headline Sponsor NFU Mutual, the leading rural insurer, returns to stunning Scone Parklands over the weekend of 1-3 July 2022 As always, the fair will feature an impressive line-up of traders, competitions and main ring events plus coun...

  • Cold weather linked to increased badger predation on lapwing nests

    Key points Badger numbers have increased in recent years, raising concern about their impact on ground-nesting birds. Although badgers mainly feed on earthworms, cold and dry conditions can reduce worm availability and prompt them to take alternative prey. This study examined how weather and hab...

  • How many capercaillie are left in Scotland?

    Key points Capercaillie are a red-listed species found in old pine forests in Scotland, with populations declining since the 1970s despite efforts to help them. National surveys are completed every six years, but annual lek and brood counts may be able to produce robust population estimates in t...

  • Skylark

    Skylark A well-known species in literature, poetry, art and music, the skylark hardly needs an introduction. Best known for its display flight, vertically up in the air. It is that time of year when the Walled Garden, where Research and Advisory is stationed at GWCT HQ, falls a little quiet, as b...

  • Flower Power: A brief guide to encouraging beneficial insects using wildflowers

    These days farmers face many pressures including producing more food sustainably, and using more natural ways of controlling pests now key insecticides have been banned. Planting wildflower margins can help; they can support pollinators and pest natural enemies, sequest carbon, and brighten up th...

  • New discoveries on sea trout behaviour helps inform international conservation efforts

    Key points New tracking technologies have given researchers clearer insight into sea trout smolt survival during their outward migration and adult behaviour whilst at sea. Using acoustic tags and data storage tags, scientists tracked hundreds of sea trout in three rivers and their estuaries that...

  • Woodlark

    Woodlark I have never described myself as a ‘list-ticker-twitcher’. I don’t race out the door with my binos in hand, travelling miles and miles when told that an unexpected species has turned up in the country. I prefer to be out on my own, at work, admiring all the species around me, from the li...

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