Supporting nature’s recovery

We want to see more nature everywhere

We work tirelessly to protect local wildlife and to give nature a voice. Central to this work is our ambition to create a network of wild places where nature can thrive, starting from our more than 80 nature reserves. Regular monitoring of wildlife populations informs how we manage these special places so that they remain safe refuges for local wildlife.

Our work takes us beyond our boundaries too, as we strive to help other landowners manage their land in a way that benefits wildlife. Nature doesn’t have a voice, so we speak up for wildlife whenever we have to, while running campaigns to save precious habitats and vulnerable species.

Nature needs our help, but we also need nature’s help to tackle climate change and its impacts. Nature-based solutions offer a very effective way to lock up carbon and address growing threats such as flooding. BBOWT is at the forefront of work to deliver these powerful benefits.

How we work to protect wildlife and create wild spaces
It all starts with our nature reserves, though our work increasingly takes us out into the wider countryside where we help others to welcome wildlife too. There’s a lot on our to-do, list but we couldn’t be in a stronger position to speed nature’s recovery.

• We protect 87 nature reserves. Our nature reserves span more than 2,500 hectares and are home to an extraordinary range of habitats, from ancient meadows full of wild flowers and shimmering butterflies, wetland sites that attract rare wading birds like lapwing and redshank, to majestic woodland flushed with bluebells and alive with birdsong. These precious wildlife-rich gems are helping to seed nature’s recovery in the wider landscape.
• We help others manage their land for wildlife. Protecting the incredible wildlife found on our nature reserves makes us uniquely placed to help others do the same. We advise farmers and landowners across our three counties on the best way to manage their land for the benefit of wildlife, extending wildlife-rich habitats into the wider countryside to create truly Living Landscapes.
• We adopt a landscape-scale approach to conservation. For nature to fully recover – once and for all – we must work together. That means advising and partnering with landowners, politicians, local organisations and other conservation bodies, councils, concerned individuals – anyone and everyone passionate about securing a future where wildlife is valued by all. We are laying the groundwork necessary to establish a Nature Recovery Network, a joined-up system of places important for wildlife that creates resilient landscapes able to tackle the nature and climate emergency.