Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Foreword from the Chairman 2020 has been a year of great uncertainty. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted us all, with many people struggling to adjust to huge changes in their lives and work. During this difficult time, many people have found joy and solace in the natural world, and we have seen growing appreciation for nature and local wildlife. There has also been growing concern about the climate and nature emergencies with acknowledgement from government and individuals that we need to act now to recover nature for the benefit of us all. Despite the challenges we faced this year, Covid-19 has not put a stop to our work and the Trust has managed to continue to deliver success for wildlife. The rapid shift to communicating online has allowed us to reach new audiences through increased digital engagement. The community spirit shown by so many people has seen Team Wilder expanded into many more local neighbourhoods. The Watercress and Winterbournes Project continued to protect and celebrate Hampshire’s precious chalk streams, and our campaigning work helped to shine a spotlight on areas desperately needing better protection, like Tipner West in Portsmouth.
On our nature reserves, despite staff being unable to work for parts of the year, and a huge increase in pressure from increased visitor numbers, we have achieved impressive results. We purchased new sites to protect rare wildlife like Duke of Burgundy butterflies and adders. We improved habitats for wildlife and brought them back into favourable condition, and saw one of our most successful years for species, including lapwing and stonechat, on our nature reserves, following long-term efforts to protect their breeding sites. Our first rewilding site at Little Duxmore demonstrated the ability of nature to recover after years of intensive pressure.
On our nature reserves, despite staff being unable to work on them for parts of the year and a huge increase in pressure from increased visitor numbers, there have been impressive results.
We are fortunate at the Trust to have such generous supporters and extraordinarily dedicated staff and volunteers, who together make these successes possible. While we had prepared for the worst-case scenario this year, the Trust was able to continue to deliver our vital work for nature. Watching the unprecedented impacts of increased pressure and damage on our nature reserves has been extremely difficult. This
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highlights the need for strong and decisive action by the Government, to better protect and increase space for nature and tackle the climate and nature emergencies. As we look to the many challenges and opportunities facing the natural world, I am both proud and reassured to have such a strong team working to turn things around for wildlife. I look forward to working with our members, staff, volunteers and partners to achieve our vision for a Wilder 2030 and a brighter future for wildlife.
David Jordan OBE Chairman
