Landscape scale conservation

BBOWT strives to protect wildlife beyond our own nature reserves too.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Successive State of Nature reports compiled by more than 50 conservation bodies, the most recent published in 2019, show we are continuing to lose wildlife and the places wildlife thrives at an alarming rate.

By adopting a landscape-scale approach to wildlife conservation, we can reconnect habitats and restore functioning landscapes. In doing so we can reverse losses, increase the resilience of local wildlife to the unfolding climate and nature emergencies, all while yielding incredible benefits for society at large.

BBOWT is well placed to work with local landowners to help local wildlife. Working together we can extend wildlife-rich habitats from our own nature reserves out into the wider countryside, creating a Nature Recovery Network that puts nature at the heart of our lives once more.

To ensure nature’s recovery we must extend our influence out into the wider countryside. Working with others for the benefit of wildlife is a major part of BBOWT’s strategic recovery plan for nature, and fulfils the recommendation of ‘more, bigger, better managed and joined up’ wildlife sites from Prof Sir John Lawton’s report Making Space for Nature.

We are at a pivotal moment in history and there’s everything to play for. Along with other Wildlife Trusts across the country, we are calling for a Nature Recovery Network to put space for nature at the heart of our farming and planning systems, to repair our fragmented and degraded landscape.

The Trust has a broad programme of initiatives partnering with other organisations and individuals to realise this vision. Our proactive approach sees us visit farmers and landowners to give advice on land management, and deliver projects in priority areas like our Living Landscape to give local wildlife a helping hand. We also run dedicated projects to protect iconic species such as water voles and badgers.