Results of the Wildlife and
Countryside Survey 2009
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust wanted to know what people
thought about their wildlife and countryside, and created a survey to find out.
Respondents
were asked to comment on issues around wildlife, the countryside, and housing
development. We knew that people value wildlife and the countryside, and also
knew that many people have concerns about the impact of the proposed significant
increase in housing over the next 20 years, the threat of climate change and the
risk of increasing pollution levels. What we didn’t know is how strongly
local people felt about these issues, or what role a charity such as the
Wildlife Trust should play in tackling them.
The survey was sent to over 116,000 households in the region, with additional access being available though the Trust’s website.
With over 4,000 completed responses returned to us, we feel that the views are very representative of the local population.
Perhaps not surprisingly, over 75% of respondents said that they were very interested in wildlife and countryside matters generally. As a local charity that works to protect wildlife and wild places we were naturally interested in which activities respondents thought should be priorities for the Trust.
The results showed:
Managing wildlife reserves
97.38%;
Ensuring wildlife is protected by the planning system
97.02%
Providing environmental education for schools
94.89%;
Campaigning on wildlife and environmental issues
93.05%;
Organising wildlife events and activities
84.43%.
We also wanted to know the level of concern about the impact that the proposals in the South East plan will have on the region’s wildlife.
Over 96% were very concerned and 86.95% felt that it was very important for the Wildlife Trust to be proactive in protecting wildlife by influencing decision makers and developers to minimise negative impact on wildlife.
Our newly published Strategic Plan provides focus our work for the next few years. Wildlife is facing greater pressure than ever, not only from development but from climate change too – and the need for the Trust to step up to the issues is clear. The findings from the Wildlife and Countryside Survey clearly validate the main elements within the Plan.
Knowing that so many people in Hampshire share our views, and having this confirmed by an overwhelming response through the survey is enormously encouraging.
One surprising result from the survey was that although 16% of respondents stated they were members of the Wildlife Trust, some 25% said that they had not heard of the organisation, and another 58% had heard of us, but were not yet members. Clearly we have a great deal of work to do to get our message heard.
For further details, please contact us at www.hwt.org.uk or phone 01489 774400