Formation | 1931 |
---|---|
Type | Conservation charity |
Headquarters | Burgate Manor, Fordingbridge, Hampshire |
Area served | United Kingdom |
King Charles III | |
President | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury |
Key people |
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Revenue (2021) | £9.34 million GBP [1] |
Employees | 102 staff |
Website | www |
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust [2] (formerly the Game Conservancy Trust) is a British charitable organisation using science to promote game and wildlife management as an essential part of nature conservation. For over 80 years the Trust has been conducting scientific research to understand why there have been declines in species such as the grey partridge, black grouse, water vole, corn bunting and brown hare.
The Trust advises conservationists, farmers and land managers on ways to improve wildlife habitat and enhance the countryside for public benefit. It also lobbies government for agricultural and conservation policies based on science.
Notable conservation projects of the Trust are those conserving grey partridges, black grouse and regarding control of mink where they are preying on water voles. [3]
In 2004, the Trust won the first UFAW Wild Animal Welfare Award from the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare for its innovative low-cost ‘Mink Raft’, which enabled the efficient monitoring and capture of mink while minimising the risks to non-target species for water vole conservation. [4] These rafts are now used extensively across the UK. [5] [6] [7]
The Trust's charitable objectives are stated as:
A severe outbreak of the disease strongylosis in grey partridges in 1931 led Major HG Eley (a shotgun cartridge manufacturer) to establish the ICI Game Research Station at Knebworth in Hertfordshire. The organisation began investigating partridge biology and monitoring their numbers on farms and estates across the UK in 1933 - work that continues to this day with the participation of farmers, land managers and gamekeepers in its Partridge Count Scheme. [9] [10]
After World War II, Eley established a new base at Burgate Manor in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, forming what was later known as the Eley Game Advisory Service. They leased a local 4,000-acre (16 km2) estate and for 14 years ran it as a demonstration and experimental game shoot.
Much of the association's early work was on the effects of organochlorine pesticides The results of this work helped to bring in a ban on the use of dieldrin, aldrin and heptachlor seed dressings in 1962.
In March 2009, due to Government funding cuts to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the Trust took over the running of the East Stoke Salmon & Trout Research Centre in Dorset, as well as the three research staff being made redundant, in order to secure the continuation of the Centre's expertise and internationally important long-term data collection. [11]
In 1969, following the withdrawal of financial assistance from ICI, and thus ending its nearly 40-year association with Eley Cartridges, it became the Game Conservancy.
In April 1980, it was registered as a research and education charity under the name - Game Conservancy Trust.
On 1 October 2007, after 27 years as the Game Conservancy Trust, the organisation was renamed to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, to better reflect it's broader work of also conserving "associated flora and fauna", which can also benefit as a consequence of sympathetic game management and accompanying land management practices.
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust works on the following species and habitats:
The Trust is one of the pioneers in research into conservation headlands and beetle banks.
The Trust has conducted and published research on countryside and game management, on topics such as numbers of gamebirds, disease in gamebirds, predator control and farming practices. It also publishes peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals. [12]
The Trust has been studying insect and invertebrate abundance in an area of the Sussex Downs – 32 square kilometres of farmland used mainly for cereal crops. This Sussex Study has been running for over 50 years since it started in 1970 and so is the world's longest-running study of cereal ecosystems. The study reports that, in the period 1970 to 2019, there was an overall decline of 37% in invertebrate abundance. [13]
The grey partridge, also known as the grey-legged partridge, English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is the Latin for "partridge", and is itself derived from Ancient Greek perdix.
Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.
The red-legged partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French partridge, to distinguish it from the English or grey partridge. The genus name is from Ancient Greek alektoris a farmyard chicken, and rufa is Latin for red or rufous.
Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products, for recreation ("sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, though most are terrestrial mammals and birds. Fish caught non-commercially are also referred to as game fish.
The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is managed by a board of trustees elected from its membership who provide overall direction for the development of the trust and there are advisory committees. The work of the trust is carried out through staff and volunteers.
The European water vole or northern water vole, is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair.
Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Vermont located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain and the southern side of Missisquoi Bay. The refuge is in Franklin County in the northwest corner of the state near the International Boundary with Canada.
In the United Kingdom, the term hunting with no qualification generally refers to hunting with hounds, e.g. normally fox hunting, stag (deer) hunting, beagling, or minkhunting, whereas shooting is the shooting of game birds. What is called deer hunting elsewhere is deer stalking. According to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) over a million people a year participate in shooting, including stalking, shooting, hunting, clay shooting and target shooting. Firearm ownership is regulated in the UK by licensing. Provisions exist for those without a Firearm or Shotgun certificate to shoot under the supervision of a certificate holder.
Wildwood Trust is a woodland discovery park in Herne, near Canterbury in Kent, England. It features over fifty species of native British animals such as deer, badgers, wild boar, wolves and brown bear. It is located on the main road A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.
Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address habitat conservation and protection of natural resources in their constitution. Article 95 states, "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future.".
The Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy is a community-based conservation area located in Garissa County, Kenya. The conservancy covers approximately 72 km2. It is located along the eastern bank of the Tana River, and borders the former Tana River Primate Reserve (1976−2007).
The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County (LCSLO) is a non-profit land trust organization that has been operating in San Luis Obispo County, California since 1984. The LCSLO is dedicated to voluntary, collaborative preservation, and improvement of lands that hold significant scenic, agricultural, habitat, and cultural values. Their work aims to benefit both local communities and wildlife.
Driven grouse shooting is a field sport in the United Kingdom involving the shooting of red grouse. It is one of two forms of the sport, the other is walked-up shooting. Driven grouse shooting involves grouse being driven to fly over people with shotguns in fixed positions. In walked-up shooting the participants walk forward in a line and flush the birds as they go. Walked-up shooting is more physically demanding than a driven shoot and typically involves fewer birds being shot.
The Whangamarino Wetland in the Waikato District is the second largest wetland complex of the North Island of New Zealand. Encompassing a total area of more than 7200 hectares, the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai manages 5,923 hectares of peat bog, swamp, mesotrophic lags, open water and river systems listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Fish and Game New Zealand are the second largest landowner, managing 748 hectares of the wetland primarily as gamebird hunting habitat.
Nind Nature Reserve is a 3.75-hectare (9.3-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire.
Peoples Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales. It exists to promote the conservation of rare or declining species and habitats in the UK and worldwide through monitoring, public engagement, education, and through the funding of conservation projects and research. It also owns and manages two nature reserves. As of April 2015, PTES has 16 employees, five trustees and coordinates around 24,000 volunteers in the UK. PTES relies on donations from the general public and grants from trusts and foundations to continue its work - it receives no core funding from the UK Government. The organisation has registered charity number 274206.
Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) was founded in 1975 by the Honourable Vincent Weir (1935-2014). It is a charity that focuses on mammal conservation in Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe. Its Head Office is in Herefordshire, with local offices in southwest England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Dr.George Richard Potts, known as Dick, was an internationally renowned ecologist and conservationist. He was a specialist in the partridge. He is primarily associated with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust for which he started many successful conservation projects. He was director of the Game Conservation Trust from 1993 to 2001. He is the author of many scientific papers and some books. The focus of his research for which his most well-known is on the relationship between modern agriculture and game birds and animals.
Sir Marcus James O'Lone, KCVO, FRICS is a retired British land agent.