business

The Wildlife Trusts Seek Business Support For £30 Million Appeal

Water Vole (c) Terry Whittaker 2020VISION

The Wildlife Trusts seek business support for £30 million appeal to kickstart nature’s recovery across 30% of land and sea by 2030

The Wildlife Trusts launch 30 by 30, a public appeal to raise £30 million to start putting nature into recovery across at least 30% of land and sea by 2030.

"The next ten years must be a time of renewal, of rewilding our lives, of green recovery."

The Wildlife Trusts – a federation of 46 grassroots charities – believe that restoring nature is vital for people and for industry. Investing in healthy, functioning ecosystems is essential for tackling climate change and the resilience of the UK economy.

September 2020 marks the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Wildlife Trusts are uniquely placed to help businesses working towards sustainability goals for responsible consumption and production, life on land, life below the water, sustainable communities, and climate action.

Craig Bennett

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We’ve set ourselves an ambitious goal – to raise £30 million and kickstart the process of securing at least 30% of land and sea in nature’s recovery by 2030. We will buy land to expand and join-up our nature reserves; we’ll work with others to show how to bring wildlife back to their land, and we’re calling for nature’s recovery through a new package of policy measures including big new ideas like Wildbelt.

“The next ten years must be a time of renewal, of rewilding our lives, of green recovery. We all need nature more than ever and when we succeed in reaching 30 by 30 we’ll have wilder landscapes that store carbon and provide on-your-doorstep nature for people too. Everyone can support and help us to succeed.”

The Wildlife Trusts have a long history of working with businesses to improve places for nature and to inspire and enable employees and customers to experience the joy of being closer to nature.

Red squirrel (c) Mark Hamblin 2020VISION

The Wildlife Trusts’ existing partnerships demonstrate the contribution that businesses can make to achieving 30 by 30:

Severn Trent Water is creating 5,000 hectares of space for nature and working with Wildlife Trust farm advisors across Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire to improve places for wildlife, clean-up agricultural practices and improve water quality.

During its 13 year partnership with The Wildlife Trusts, Aggregate Industries has managed its landholding to benefit wildlife and has over 4,000 hectares reaching Biodiversity Benchmark standard. Many precious and remarkable nature reserves, such as Ripon City Wetlands in North Yorkshire have been created for local wildlife and for people to enjoy and care for.

Jordans Cereals enables its oat farmers to farm for nature. Their farmers set aside 10% of their land to be managed for wildlife and together they provide over 4,000 hectares for wildlife. Over the last 5 years each of Jordan’s oat farmers have worked with experts from their local Wildlife Trust to put in place measures to benefit species including birds, bat and pollinators.

Employees of leading international law firm Hogan Lovells support The Wildlife Trusts through their employee fundraising activities and generous provision of pro-bono legal advice.

Every year, more than 600 employees from Siemens Plc take part in Wild Work Days – improving natural places in their communities and demonstrating the value of nature on employee wellbeing. Employees return to work feeling happier and healthier; more than 81% reported an improved sense of wellbeing following their time spent with their local Wildlife Trust.

Paul Murphy

Paul Murphy, CEO, Jordans Cereals says: “Time is running out to make the scale of change we all need to see to help restore nature and bring back our wildlife. Jordans Cereals has been working with The Wildlife Trusts and with farmers who care passionately about the future of this country and the wildlife it sustains, setting aside over 4,200 hectares of land and enough hedgerows to go four times around the M25 for nature to flourish.

"We’ve seen first-hand how investing in more nature-friendly farming methods and sustainable food production has reaped remarkable dividends for wildlife. Consumers are demanding positive action on the ground and the most competitive businesses of the future are certain to be those who invest more in a sustainable future.”

Hedgehog (c) Tom Marshall

Working with The Wildlife Trusts is an opportunity to leave a valuable business legacy, to help mitigate environmental impacts, meet sustainability goals and work towards a greener future for all. Over 2,000 businesses already work with The Wildlife Trusts and together we can achieve our goal of 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

Funds raised by The Wildlife Trusts’ new 30 by 30 appeal will go towards projects which range from land acquisition to peatland repair and species reintroduction. Examples include:

Lost fenland to be restored – Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust aims to restore 50 hectares of the county’s lost peat-fenland at Bourne North Fen to become a home for a wide variety of wildlife, linking up important nature reserves, creating a multi-purpose wetland which will store water for agriculture, improve water quality for consumers, and underpin a local eco-tourism economy.

Repairing peatland to lock-up carbon and help wildlife – Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s pioneering carbon farm at Winmarleigh is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. Drained for agriculture in the 1970s the carbon farm is part of a project across five European countries to see how peatlands capture carbon. Work has started to rewet fields and plant over 100,000 plugs of sphagnum moss.

Beaver reintroduction and farmland bird recovery – Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust have plans to reintroduce beavers to the Island. A complex of wetland nature reserves in the Eastern Yar Valley offers an exciting opportunity for this wonderful ecosystem engineer to work its magic. The Trust is also working on returning missing farmland birds such as cirl bunting and chough to the Island.

Converting low-grade agricultural land into nature areas near homes – Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is changing the way nature reserves are acquired giving highest priority to land with low existing wildlife value where the potential for biodiversity gain is greatest. These areas will be transformed into new species-rich wild areas that will be freely accessible to people and will help capture carbon and prevent flooding.

Find out more about how businesses and industry can work with The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 by 30 appeal at www.wildlifetrusts.org/about-us/partnerships/working-businesses

Join the Big Wild Walk fundraiser 26th October – 1st November! www.wildlifetrusts.org/big-wild-walk

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