4 minute read
Celebrating 60
Celebrating 60 years
of your Wildlife Trust
In 1961 the Trust was formed with 335 members and a li le over £300 to our name. A lot has changed for wildlife and in the fi eld of conservation in the last 60 years, and so much of what the Trust has achieved is thanks to you - our members and supporters. We share some of the successes, highlights and our vision for the future as we look forward to the next 60 years and beyond.
2011
To celebrate the Trust’s 50th anniversary, sta and volunteers joined Vice President Chris Packham to make a huge 1,370kg seed cake, setting a new Guinness World Record!
1961
Our rst nature reserve was created at Upper Titch eld Haven.
1965
The Trust has 1,000 members.
DARRAN JONES King sher
1971
1996
We reached over 10,000 members.
1973
Jim White, the Trust’s rst Conservation O cer was employed.
1993
Swanwick Lakes Nature Reserve opened by Chris Packham on the site of former working clay pits. Testwood Lakes Education Centre
2003
Testwood Lakes Education Centre opened its doors on the site of a former gravel pit.
2004
We reached 20,000 members.
2009
The New Forest Non-Native Plants Project was established to stop the spread of invasive non-native plants.
DR DAVID WILLIAMMS
Badger at Roydon Woods
1991
Renamed Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and adopted the badger logo, in line with the national movement.
1982
We employed our rst Education O cer. Grazing cattle in Long Valley - part of the MoD estate managed by the Trust.
2007
We began working in partnership with the Ministry of Defence to help manage over 3,000 hectares of internationally important landscapes in north and east Hampshire.
2013
We purchased our rst farm, College Copse, and established our grazing herd of British White cattle to help manage nature reserves.
LIANNE DE MELLO
British White cattle
LINDA PRIESTLEY The Needles MCZ
2015
We successfully campaigned for the designation of three Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), the Needles, Utopia, and O shore Overfalls, giving a range of spectacular underwater habitats and marine life national protection.
2016
Over 1,600 people donated to an appeal to buy Hockey Meadows Farm, helping expand our successful conservation grazing operations.
KEN DOLBEAR Marsh fritillary butter ies Chalk streams are home to unique wildlife.
2019
Our most successful land purchase appeal ever raised over £245,000 to secure 124 acres of land on the Isle of Wight, creating the Newchurch Moors Nature Reserve.
Newchurch Moors Nature Reserve
IAN PRATT
2020
The Watercress & Winterbournes Landscape Partnership Scheme was awarded £1.9 million by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This ve-year project brings together local communities, landowners and 16 organisations to restore and celebrate our iconic chalk rivers. Duke of Burgundy butter y
2020
Members and supporters helped us raise over £150,000 to purchase Deacon Hill Nature Reserve near Winchester – a vital stronghold for the Duke of Burgundy butter y.
2021
Today we have over 26, 000 members and manage 60 nature reserves covering 4,691 hectares of land. But there is still much more to do to turn the tide towards nature’s recovery. The Wilder 2030 strategy brings a new direction to areas of our work, including outreach and work in local communities. Much of this work now forms part of Team Wilder and brings with it new partnerships and links to many new areas. Similarly, our Wilder Land and Sea programme with its focus on rewilding and nature based solutions, is creating new and exciting opportunities to restore much larger areas for nature.
2018
The rst generation of marsh fritillary butter ies were successfully reintroduced to Trust managed sites after disappearing from northeast Hampshire’s meadows.
2018
The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the Trust £640,200 towards ‘Secrets of the Solent’, a four-year project to celebrate the amazing people and wildlife that share our waters.
Wilder 2030
Our ambitious 2030 goals, for 30% of land and sea to be made wilder, for the pressure on nature to be reduced everywhere else, and for one in four people to take action for nature, will not be easily reached. But all that we have achieved in the past 60 years shows how much we can accomplish by working together with our members, supporters and partners. With the pressures of the climate crisis and ecological emergency weighing heavy on our natural world, the need to act is more urgent than ever. Wilder 2030 is our plan to see nature thriving across the entirety of our two counties and secure another 60 years for wildlife. We need you to help us put nature into recovery by 2030.
