Wildlife charity launches £280,000 fundraising campaign

The trust is the leading voice for conservation in the area, with more than 23,500 members and over 1,100 active volunteers supporting its work.

Tewin Orchard (Image: Frieda Rummenhohl)

This year marks the charity’s 60th anniversary and, along with the scale of the nature and climate crisis, a further challenge is impacting on its ability to deliver the recovery plans needed — rising costs.

As the charity launches its Wildlife in Crisis Appeal, Chloë Edwards, Director of Nature Recovery at Herts and Middlesex Trust, said: “We have the solutions and skills to reverse the devastating declines we are seeing and to restore nature.

"Our conservation projects join up fragmented habitats and bring species back to restore nature-rich, resilient habitats and our back catalogue of partnership projects have resulted in significant wins for our natural world.

"However, in addition to being midway through the most pivotal decade of our lives in the nature and climate crises, we are facing a financial crisis too, with escalating essential costs limiting our ability to act. Investment is needed now, and more than ever. 

“To drive nature’s recovery forward, our campaign is looking to raise £280,000 from our supporters and local people who care about the wildlife and wild spaces on their doorsteps.

"We know we are not alone in feeling the pinch of rising costs, but we all need a world where we can breathe, and thrive amidst the sights, sounds and colours of nature.

"We appreciate any donation which will enable us to continue restoring vital ecosystems and supporting our most vulnerable wildlife.”

Already more than £12,000 has been raised of the £280,000 goal.

To support the continuation of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust’s work, go to hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/crisis

Wildlife in Crisis Appeal

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and the recent State of Nature report found that nearly one in six species in Great Britain is threatened with extinction.

A brown hare (Image: Margaret Holland)

Some of our once common species are at risk, for example, numbers of brown hares are thought to have declined by more than 80 per cent in the past 100 years.

Turtle dove numbers have plummeted (Image: Dawn Monrose)

Turtle Doves — those icons of Christmas song — have seen their numbers plummet by 99 per cent since the 1960s.

Common toad (Image: Alan Price)

Common toads have declined by 68 per cent over the past 30 years, and since 1970, flowering plant species have decreased by 54 per cent, along with 18 per cent of pollinators.

The work of Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust

The work of the Trust is multi-faceted and includes:

• Connecting, protecting and creating habitats for wildlife and people — on its 42 nature reserves, from ancient woodlands to wetlands, from heathlands to meadows; through to the wider countryside, from farms and estates, to school grounds, from hospitals to community spaces.
• The protection and improvement of the area’s precious chalk rivers — there are only 260 of these worldwide and Hertfordshire and Middlesex are custodians of ten per cent of this global resource. By removing weirs, putting the wiggles back into rivers and improving flow, HMWT is working in partnership to support the survival of the wildlife that relies on these unique ecosystems.
• Encouraging a connection with nature to benefit peoples’ wellbeing — by reaching out to communities and organisations, the Trust is developing a greater appreciation of the mental and physical benefits nature delivers.
• Urging more people to stand up for nature, through its work with individuals, councils and other organisations to put nature’s recovery at the heart of decision-making and to make habitats more resilient to climate change.

During its 60-year history, these examples demonstrate the impact the Trust has had locally in Welwyn Hatfield:

Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve (Image: Debbie Bigg)

• Purchased Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve with a fascinating array of habitats: shallow spring-fed lagoons, marsh, willow woodland, hedgerow and meadow – a great spot for winter birdwatching (1970).
• Took Tewin Orchard, a traditional village orchard, under management to protect it for wildlife, including badgers, deer, swallows, fungi and bullfinches (1985). Celebrated the Badger Hide at the nature reserve being opened by Kim Wilde and Steve Kourik (1990).

Archers Green Nature Reserve, near Welwyn Garden City (Image: Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust)

• Bought Archers Green Nature Reserve, following a successful £500,000 fundraising campaign, allowing a diverse range of plants and animals to flourish (2023).
• Proposed and secured Panshanger Park being named as Hertfordshire’s first — and only England’s 10th — Dragonfly Hotspot by the British Dragonfly Society, in partnership with owners, Tarmac (2023).