£8 million raised in 6 months for The Wildlife Trusts’ nature recovery plans

Today The Wildlife Trusts unveil ten new projects that are contributing to the drive to help nature fight back – including converting an ex-golf course into an urban oasis for bees and butterflies, turning degraded arable land into heathland, securing a future for historic wildflower meadows and rewilding a village. 

The Wildlife Trusts have been humbled by the way in which the crusade has caught the popular imagination: Sir David Attenborough and members of the public are backing the call for 30 by 30. It is clear that people want change. 

Sir David Attenborough, President Emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, says:   

“If given a chance, nature is capable of extraordinary recovery. The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign to secure 30% of our land and sea for nature’s recovery by 2030 offers us the vision and level of ambition that is urgently needed to reverse the loss of nature, and so improve all our lives. 

“We are facing a global extinction crisis which has implications for every one of us. It’s tempting to assume that the loss of wildlife and wild places is a problem that’s happening on the other side of the world. The truth is that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet and the situation is getting worse.” 

Paul Hadaway, Director of Conservation at Kent Wildlife Trust said:  
 
“Our wildlife has suffered decades of decline which has led to a fragmentation of their homes and isolation from each other. We want a Wilder Kent, a network for nature's recovery across our countryside and towns. In West Blean woods, we are taking the lead and trialling a ground-breaking project, the Wilder Blean. Its vision is to increase the abundance of wildlife in the woodland by introducing bison, a missing keystone species that can naturally manage woodlands, known as ecosystem engineers, providing a nature-based Solution to the current loss of nature in the UK and a model for others to follow.  

“Our ambition shouldn’t be limited to protecting wildlife but to drive its recovery at scale including the return of missing species such as pine marten and chough. In parallel through our Wilder Carbon initiative we are restoring habitats such as fenland which lock up significant amounts of greenhouse gases, tackling the climate crisis through the restoration of nature.” 

The Wildlife Trusts’ new schemes are additions to a growing list of nature recovery projects that will put new land aside for nature as well as repair and link-up existing, fragmented, wild areas to enable wildlife to move around – some of these are still fundraising. The aim is to bring nature everywhere Including to the places where people live. 

The new schemes include:

1. Transforming 42-acre ex-golf course in Carlisle into an urban bee and butterfly oasis 
2. Restoring 95 acres arable fields back to heathland for nature in Worcestershire 
3. Reviving ice-age ponds and expanding heathland across 140 acres, Norfolk  
4. Quadrupling a nature reserve to help the rare marsh fritillary butterfly, Wiltshire 
5. Breathing life into 20 urban nature areas to benefit people and wildlife, Tyne & Wear 
6. Piloting eco-friendly ‘Naturehoods’ by creating habitats in Lincolnshire communities  
7. Securing a future for 14 acres of rare wildflower meadows in Herefordshire 
8. Improving 30 acres historic northern hay meadows for wildflowers in Cumbria 
9. Buying 12 fabulous acres of unsprayed fields for yellow mountain pansy, Shropshire 
10. Managing traditional Rhos pasture for butterfly conservation, Radnorshire 

The call has inspired ordinary people to support individual Wildlife Trusts. Of the £8 million total raised so far, over £900,000 has been given by members of the public. These include: 

Fiona McKenna – a keen conservationist, is striding out to raise at least £1000 for Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. In May, she will cover 147 miles in 12 days, discovering the projects which are going to bring back wildlife and put 30 by 30 into practice.   

Joe Oldaker – a keen rambler in Warwickshire, Joe has donated £1000 for the Wildlife Trust’s 30 by 30 Nature Recovery Fund because, he says, “I don’t see the common wildflowers, birds or butterflies I saw as a boy.”  

Terry Moore de Caslou – a chef who found himself furloughed due to the pandemic, turned to nature photography and is donating money from the sale of his wildlife photographs to Shropshire Wildlife Trust.  

Lynne Farrell – a botanist who offered financial support and plant recording skills to help the hay meadows at Bowber Head when she heard they were to be restored. It brought together personal and professional passions and she felt it was the right time to act.  

When Craig Bennett became Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts exactly a year ago, his pledge was to “get our nature back.” Since then, he has launched the 30 by 30 ambition and pioneered the concept of Wildbelt, a new designation to protect land in recovery for nature. 

Craig Bennett says:  “The alarming decline in the abundance of wildlife and the plight of species under threat means we need to act more quickly than ever before. Just protecting the nature we have left is not enough; we need to put nature into recovery, and to do so at scale and with urgency. We need to transform nature-poor areas into new nature-rich places – and change the way we think about land, looking for opportunities to help nature outside traditional nature reserves. 

“We’ve been inspired and humbled by the level of public support for our vision. The restrictions imposed by the pandemic have shown how much people need nature to be present where they live and work and not just in far-off places for visiting on special occasions. Making space for local nature is more vital than ever.”