We campaign for wildlife

The Wildlife Trusts works hard to campaign for wildlife and wild places on a local and national level.

Local campaigning

We believe developing a Nature Recovery Network should be enshrined in law so that all infrastructure and housing developments are legally obliged to provide a net gain for biodiversity - i.e. ensure a place is better for wildlife after development than it was before. 

We not only need to protect the nature reserves and wild places that we manage which provide vital refuge for our wildlife, but also to build a Living Landscape with connections and space for wildlife intrinsically built into our own road and rail networks, towns and cities, farmland, gardens and every part of our lives. This network will stop the damage and start to re-build a world in which our fragmented wild places are expanded and reconnected, and it means we need the support of local government, councils and communities to ensure nature is considered at every turn - for all of our good.

Planning

To this end, our work within the local planning system is complex and wide-ranging. We:

• work with local authorities to influence their local planning policies; 
• provide training and advice to key decision-makers;
• work with planners, developers and landowners directly to encourage sensitive design, new habitat creation and good management of green space. 

When necessary, and well evidenced, we object to inappropriate developments that have a negative impact on biodiversity and the wildlife in an area. Find out more about our work on planning.

Big infrastructure projects

There are many local developments that will have an effect on our local wildlife, including big potential infrastructure projects such as the Ox-Cam Expressway and East-West Rail, as well as ongoing development such as the A14 improvement works.

The Wildlife Trust BCN advocates for a net gain for biodiversity and wildlife with all these projects, and continues to exert pressure on the relevant organisations to achieve this aim.

Our local MPs

We also work with our local MPs to advocate for the natural environment in their area, and keep them informed of our vital work in preserving these spaces for their constituents, and for the national good.

The national picture

The Wildlife Trusts, on your behalf, is a strong voice in the campaign for the protection of wildlife and wild places nationwide. 

We are one of 46 independent Wildlife Trusts across the country, and we are also connected by the work of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts central charity based in Newark. The Wildlife Trusts, as a collective, has 800,000 members, 40,000 volunteers, 2,000 staff and 600 trustees - and is a key member of the Greener UK coalition, a group of 14 major environmental organisations united in the belief that leaving the EU is a pivotal moment to restore and enhance the UK’s environment.

A strong Environment Act and a Nature Recovery Network

Greener UK works as a partnership advocating to government for a strong Environment Act, producing briefing documents and providing practical, workable solutions that we hope will provide the foundation for the new Act.

The Wildlife Trusts have been driving the call for a Nature Recovery Network enshrined in law as part of this Act, and we continue to have vital conversations with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to keep the need for a strong Environment Act high up the political agenda.

Find out more about what a Nature Recovery Network would mean for wildlife.

How you can help

Our voice as an organisation is strengthened by your support. Whether you join us as a member, or add your voice directly to our call for a Wilder Future by joining our national campaign, we need you to help advocate for nature.