The Wildlife Trust

On Land

Saving the UK’s wildlife and wild places and helping them to recover from past losses and damage has been a central aim of The Wildlife Trusts throughout our history. For more than a century, we have been saving, protecting and standing up for wildlife and wild places.

The way land is managed in the UK has a huge impact on wildlife

Whether it’s for farming, leisure, or important natural services like managing water, human activity shapes the landscape.

The greatest cause of past and continuing wildlife loss is disrupting the natural function of landscapes.

Our work on land has two key themes: bringing wildlife back and influencing policies and laws

Our wildlife and wild places are in crisis. From ancient woodlands to coastal wetlands, nature is under pressure and squeezed into smaller pockets.

Today the pressures on nature are wide and complex so we save wildlife and wild places in different ways.

Protecting and restoring wildlife and wild places

Our on-the-ground work to bring wildlife and wild places back includes:

• Managing 2,600 nature reserves, across the UK, Alderney and the Isle of Man
• Helping others to manage land for wildlife, by providing advice and support to farmers, businesses local councils and schools
• Saving wildlife at risk by running targeted conservation programmes for species like water voles, pine martens and beavers
• Helping nature’s recovery by restoring habitats over large areas of land, like river corridors

Explore more about some of our vital work with wildlife and wild places.

In The Wate

Our seas are under pressure like never before; decades of over exploitation, pollution and unchecked development have resulted in continued biodiversity loss and the degradation of marine habitats.

But there is a way to help bring our seas back to life!

Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) are a new type of marine designation designed to allow marine life to recover. By giving special areas the best possible protection, they’ll benefit nature, people and the climate, too.

Thanks to the campaigning of The Wildlife Trusts and over 17,000 of our amazing supporters, the first three HPMAs have now been designated in English waters.