R&S Pride JULY 228.qxp 10/06/2021 09:58 Page 16
LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND’S WILDLIFE TRUST
GETTING BACK to
NATURE Just before Covid hit, the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust welcomed its new CEO Tim Graham to his new role. Needless to say, the previous year hasn’t exactly been run of the mill, but Tim is confident that with the Trust’s latest projects and with its 35 reserves and 3,084 acres of green spaces, there’s plenty of opportunity for local residents to get back out and enjoy the natural world... Words: Rob Davis.
WHAT’S THE EXPRESSION? You don’t know what you’ve got, ‘til it’s gone. That certainly appears to have been the case in the last year, with lockdown introducing an unprecedented curtailing of personal freedoms. Suddenly, faced with the reality of not being able to venture out, to socialise or to stray far from home, many felt a sense of isolation and a sense of claustrophobia. Many, too, realised that they took for granted and missed the natural world.
Tim was born and raised in the market town of Ormskirk in West Lancashire, and after completing his PhD in Ecology at the University of Sheffield, he began a 15-year long career working for the UK’s Wildlife Trusts, spending three years as CEO of the Manx Wildlife Trust on the Isle of Man before coming to work for the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust in November 2019.
“Wildlife Trusts in the UK can keep people in touch with their local countryside and the habitats and species specific to their area.” “We can show the importance and the benefits of conservation and we can provide education, but we also help to maintain those habitats and reserves for future generations to enjoy.”
Needless to say it was not the year he was expecting as he undertook his new position, but Tim is positive both for our local trust and for conservation more generally.
“We have a purpose, too, in terms of the professional knowledge we have in motivated conservation – knowing when and how to intervene responsibly in the preservation of a habitat or a species.”
“Conservation, alongside climate change, is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It’s no longer seen as the preserve of ‘eco-warriors,’ but rather it’s a subject that’s now mainstream, and it’s really able to motivate people to change their habits to suit the planet.”
“As far as is ideal, nature can – and sometimes should – self-manage, so knowing how much intervention is needed is part of our work. In an ideal world we give a nudge to the natural conservation processes and help direct nature towards its own positive outcomes.”
“We sensed that people were starting to really miss the small pockets of green spaces that they’d almost come to take for granted.”
“People used to watch documentaries by naturalists like David Attenborough and just enjoy the spectacle, but now they’re watching each series with this real sense of context, that these are the environments all around the world which need protecting and preserving.”
“Trying not to over-manage an area is one part of the work that remains important to the Wildlife Trusts, but there are other considerations too.”
“Online engagement with the Trust’s activities increased a great deal and there seems to be a newly refreshed sense of appreciation and understanding for the role that green spaces play in our lives.”
“Figures like Greta Thunberg have also shown how motivated people can be when lobbying for change. So it all feels rather different now, like there’s a greater sense of motivation, with all to play for.”
Covid presented a set of really unusual circumstances for our Wildlife Trustmanaged reserves and green spaces. And the effects of the past year – both positive and negative – are reverberating around the country’s 46 Trusts. “We’ve found that people are keen to once again enjoy going out and about,” says Tim Graham, CEO of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
“Footfall is a real conundrum in the long term because visitors are an essential way to make conservation visible to the public.” “They must see the work we do and understand its importance, but visitors to a site inevitably have an impact, so managing that presents unique challenges.” >>
Main: Ospreys are just one of the species synonymous with Leicestershire and Rutland and cared for by the Wildlife Trust.
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