The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is a wildlife trust covering Birmingham and the Black Country in the West Midlands of England. [1] It covers five of the seven districts of the West Midlands county: Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Created in 1980, by Chris Baines and others, it was formerly known as the Urban Wildlife Group, [2] and then the Urban Wildlife Trust, the United Kingdom's first urban Wildlife Trust. It was responsible for the first ever International Dawn Chorus Day event, held at Moseley Bog in 1984. In the mid-1980s it established Plants Brook Nature Reserve in Birmingham.
The Trust was the first UK Wildlife Trust to become a member of Countdown 2010 the European initiative to halt the decline in biodiversity by 2010.
Black Country Living Landscape [3] was a major initiative of the Trust that aimed to be the first practical application of the principles of landscape scale conservation to an urban area.
In 2012 the Trust built a partnership that was successful in getting Birmingham and the Black Country declared as one of the UK's first tranche of Nature Improvement Areas. [4] [5]
The organisation had a 40 hectare reserve at Park Hall near Minworth but despite opposition this was taken possession of by HS2 under powers granted by the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017. [6] Other nature reserves include Portway Hill, Deer's Leap Wood, Peascroft Wood, Richmond Garden in Soho, Birmingham and Hill Hook Local Nature Reserve. The Trust also manages Moseley Bog and has a close involvement with reserves such as Moorcroft Wood Local Nature Reserve. The Trust operates a number of environmental centres including the Centre of the Earth and the Birmingham EcoPark. [7]
It is a full member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, (one of 46 covering the whole United Kingdom), and was the first urban Wildlife Trust and has a membership of over 11,000.
The trust carries out a wide range of activities to protest and develop biodiversity and engage with local people and various nature conservation, community and education projects. They carry out research, surveys and campaigns. Each year it co-ordinates International Dawn Chorus Day.
The Trust is managed by a council of trustees drawn from the membership. The Trust has about twenty full, part-time and contract staff and many active volunteers. They produce a regular magazine, Wildlife Focus, which provides coverage of their activities and a range of urban wildlife issues.
The Cornwall Wildlife Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1962 that is concerned solely with Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
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The dawn chorus is the outbreak of birdsong at the start of a new day. In temperate countries this is most noticeable in spring when the birds are either defending a breeding territory, trying to attract a mate or calling in the flock. In a given location it is common for different species to do their dawn singing at different times.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and geology throughout Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.
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Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county.
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Durham Wildlife Trust is a registered charity that was established in 1971, originally as the Durham County Conservation Trust, becoming Durham Wildlife Trust in 1988. The Trust operates across the area of the old County Durham, which includes Darlington, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
Moseley Bog and Joy's Wood Local Nature Reserve, formerly The Dell, is a Local Nature Reserve in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England, with an area of about 12 ha. Along with the nearby Sarehole Mill, and a number of other sites, it forms part of the Shire Country Park.
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Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is a charitable non-governmental organisation, one of the UK's 46 county-based Wildlife Trusts. Its focus is nature conservation and it works to achieve a nature-rich Yorkshire with healthy and resilient ecosystems that support both Yorkshire's wildlife and its people.
Chris Baines is an English naturalist, one of the UK's leading independent environmentalists. He is a horticulturalist, landscape architect, naturalist, television presenter and author.
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London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area. The Trust aims to protect London's wildlife and wild spaces, and it manages 36 nature reserves in Greater London. The Trust provides education services for schools. Local groups work on reserves and organise walks.
Gwent Wildlife Trust (GWT) is a wildlife trust covering the area between the lower Wye and Rhymney rivers which forms the vice county of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is a registered charity and a member of the Wildlife Trusts Partnership.
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Deer's Leap Wood is a nature reserve of the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, in West Midlands, England. There is woodland with a variety of tree species; also a pond and a meadow area.