The Wildlife Trust
Why We Own Land
by Debbie Tann, Chief Executive, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
The
Wildlife Trust has recently set up two designated Nature Funds to help it
acquire more land in Hampshire. It’s a positive move because owning land is a
fundamental part of the Trust’s strategy for wildlife conservation. Now we can
act more quickly when land is for sale. Donations and legacies can be saved in
the Nature Funds and then spent as soon as suitable wildlife sites become
available.
Yes, it is vitally important that we continue to work with landowners and other organisations to help them manage their land for wildlife, but owning land brings with it both direct benefits for wildlife as well as a host of indirect benefits for the Trust’s work as a whole.
Land owned by the Wildlife Trust is safeguarded in perpetuity, protected from development and other land use changes. We have control over land that we own, which means we can manage and restore it for the benefit of biodiversity and then demonstrate this to others.
As a landowner, the Trust is also able to relate to other landowners. This gives us vital credibility when giving advice on land management for wildlife. We manage livestock, we manage hedgerows, we have to deal with the regulatory bodies, we have to deal with rights of way and health and safety. We can speak to landowners from a position of shared experiences and that helps us build lasting relationships.
As a local charity, it is important that we are part of the community. We need to understand local issues and be able to respond to local decision making. Owning land gives the Trust a locus in an area, embedding us in the community and enabling us to have our say.
Our nature reserves are the building blocks for our vision of creating living landscapes – biodiversity hotspots where wildlife can be protected and can spread out to neighbouring land once conditions are favourable.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust currently manages around 5,000 hectares of land for wildlife. This is made up of our 53 nature reserves and other land that we manage or graze on behalf of others, most notably the Ministry of Defence. All of these sites are crucially important for biodiversity and help us take forward our living landscapes vision.
Part of our vision for the future is to actively buy more land under threat
in places where it can not only safeguard threatened species but also be a
‘building block’ for creating a living landscape. The funds to buy and manage
such land are increasingly hard to come by. It only becomes possible thanks to
the generosity of people supporting our land purchase appeals or leaving us
gifts in their wills.
For more information please see our website www.hwt.org.uk or call us on 01489 774400.