Richard Skehens, Managing Director of Grundon Waste Management Limited today presented Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust with a cheque for £250,000 towards vital wildlife conservation work in the county.
Upon being handed the cheque, Dr.Gordon McGlone, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust said “This is the single biggest company contribution to our nature reserves that we have ever received. Grundon have been extraordinarily supportive of the work of The Trust for 20 years and in that time we have been able to care for Gloucestershire’s wildlife in new and imaginative ways. This £250,000 will ensure that we are able to maintain our vital Coombe Hill reserve as part of the World’s first wildlife highway.”...full article

Avoid the unwanted gifts, excess packaging and the need for batteries by adopting a dormouse in Gloucestershire this Christmas for only £10!
The sleepy dormouse has already become extinct in seven other counties in the UK. We are lucky enough to have a stronghold here in Gloucestershire but this will need protecting if it is to avoid the same fate.
Adopting a dormouse for your children, friends or family is the perfect way of giving a unique, environmentally-friendly gift that won't cost the Earth and will directly contribute to the survival of dormice in the county.
Visit our adoption page here to find out more about the species and how you can adopt online today!
Adopters will receive a certificate, pho...full article

Emma Downing has been the first student at Hartpury College, an Associate Faculty of the University of the West of England, to win an award for ‘Greatest Contribution to Wildlife Conservation’ sponsored by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
The beautiful engraved oak bowl was presented to Emma, who has completed an FdSc in Wildlife Management, by The Trust's Chief Executive Dr. Gordon McGlone OBE at her graduation ceremony held at Gloucester Cathedral on 19th November. Emma will now be continuing her studies by working towards a BSc (Hons) over the coming 1½ years.
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust actively promotes learning to both staff, volunteers and students, “We are delighted to recognise and award the hard wor...full article

Seasons Day Nursery at the Stroud Cricket Pavillion will be holding a Wear Your Wellies for Wildlife Week from Monday 10th - Friday 14th November to raise money for local wildlife charity, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.

During the week, for a small donation, up to 60 children and staff will be coming in to spend the day in their wellies and taking part in wildlife activities and crafts.
One activity they are sure to enjoy is wellie printing, where they will be walking through coloured paints and making their own wildlife wellie paintings!

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Meet... The Snowball Gang Tuesday Nov 11th 2008 Meet... The Snowball Gang "artworks inspired by paper snowballs" November 11 - 18 (excluding Sunday 16th) in the Subscription Rooms, Stroud. The Snowball Gang is a project created by Sybil Edwards, a Gloucestershire-based artist working with paper. The aims of the project are twofold: to create a giant temporary artwork in the form of a Pyramid using 100,000 paper snowballs and to raise £100,000 for Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in the process. As the old saying goes, there is strength in numbers. One person can’t make 100,000 snowballs any more than one person can save the planet, but… if everybody chips in…HEY! Find out more www.thesnowballgang.com ...full article

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Banking on Some Tree-mendous Work Down at Lower Woods! Thursday Nov 6th 2008 Calculators and pens were replaced with wellies and hacksaws when a team of Natwest business managers braved the mud and cold to help Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust with valuable conservation work. The team spent the day at The Trust’s Lower Woods Nature Reserve – one of England’s largest oak-ash woods on heavy clay soil – helping out with coppicing the woodland. Their work involved cutting down thin trees to allow the main ones to flourish so the flowers and wildlife can have daylight to grow and live. However nothing was wasted, as they pruned the straight trees they cut down to sell on to weavers and the team then built a natural fence along one of the paths with the rest. The result is that the site will c...full article

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Autumn Magic - 28th and 29th October Friday Oct 17th 2008 Even bigger than last year's half term event at the Conservation Centre, Robinswood Hill Country Park Gloucester GL4 6SX. Come and enjoy pumpkin carving (£1 per pumpkin), excursions onto the hill and crafty activities. The event is on 28th and 29th October, starts at 10am, and runs to 4pm. Click here for more information....full article

The Trust Takes a Dip! Whelford Pools pond dipping platform NOW OPEN! Friday Oct 17th 2008 A new pond dipping platform installed at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s Whelford Pools Nature Reserve near Fairford is now open for the use of local community members and visitors. The platform beside one of the smaller ponds designed to attract dragonflies and other water invertebrates has been kindly financed by the Cirencester Rotary Club. Local Rotarians volunteer every month to help with the conservation work being carried out there including the clearing of scrub, repairing and repainting the bird watching hides and clearing the paths for visitors. They have also installed wheelchair ramps up to the hides so that people with limited mobility can also catch a glimpse of the vast array of wetland birds that ...full article

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Support The Trust's Direction Tuesday Sep 9th 2008 The Board of Trustees is searching for volunteers who have the skills and interests for joining the Board and/or advisory committees, and/or project groups. The advisory committees report to the Board and provide advice and insight for both the Trust’s management and the Board. Project groups are sub-groups of the advisory committees with a specific remit to progress identified issues and challenges. The Board and these committees need new people to add to existing skills and to generate new ideas. Board of Trustees The Board meets most months and appointment is through a selection process and then by election at the Annual General Meeting in November (see Election of Trustees section overleaf). General responsi...full article

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Back to school, back to nature Tuesday Sep 2nd 2008 It’s that time again when children go back to school, dressed in new uniform and stiff new shoes. But do you know much about the National Curriculum? Do you know what your children or grandchildren are learning at school? And would you be shocked if we were to tell you that environmental education is no longer a compulsory part of the national curriculum? Emma Bradshaw of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust takes a closer look at the education system and what you can do to make sure your children have access to nature’s playground… I was shocked recently when I received an email asking me to sign a petition to put environmental education back on the curriculum, as despite having a child at school I hadn’t realised it w...full article

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Celebrating 2000 Years of History at Lower Woods Nature Reserve on Sunday 7th September, 11.30 - 5.00pm Friday Aug 22th 2008 Join Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to celebrate 2000 Years of history at Lower Woods Nature Reserve on Sunday 7th September, 11.30 - 5.00pm Bring the whole family and discover your LOCAL nature reserve Guided archaeology/history walk with experts around the Roman Villa and World War II sawmills (N.B. Excavations are not visible) Marquee with displays of archaeology, history and wildlife Guided wildlife and geology walks through the Woods Fun for children! Family activity walks in the Woods, and help to build our Iron Age roundhouse (probably muddy - wear appropriate clothes or bring a change!) Demonstrations of traditional woodland activities including bodging, coppicing, hurdle-making, ho...full article

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FIRST TIME RARE BIRD SPOTTED IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE Wednesday Aug 20th 2008 An adult stilt sandpiper was spotted yesterday at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trusts Coombe Hill nature reserve on 19th August 2008. This is the first time a stilt sandpiper has been recorded in the county and hundreds of birdspotters have been flocking to the nature reserve to see it. The stilt sandpiper was witnessed feeding on the flash to the left of the Grundon hide between 6pm and 8pm. The stilt sandpiper breeds in the open arctic tundra of North America It is a very long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in South America. This species resembles the curlew sandpiper in its curved bill, long neck, pale supercilium and white rump. It is readily distinguished from that species by its much longer and paler leg...full article

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Hedgerow Survey Volunteers Needed Friday Jul 18th 2008 Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is appealing for volunteers to help them with important hedgerow surveying at Coombe Hill nature reserve, near Cheltenham. Are you passionate about your local environment and wildlife? Would you like to get involved with nature conservation and volunteer your spare time to help the county’s leading conservation charity dedicated to local wildlife? If yes, then you could be the volunteers for us. We need your help to carry out valuable surveys on our Coombe Hill nature reserve hedgerows. We’re looking for people who have free time on Saturday the 26th of July, from 10am to 1pm, Saturday the 2nd of August from 10.30am and Saturday the 13th of September, from 10.30am. The first Sa...full article

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Volunteer Survey and Monitoring - 2008 Programme Wednesday Jul 2nd 2008 Our 2008 Programme offers opportunities for all to get involved regardless of skills - we welcome absolute beginners, so come along! Group surveys are sociable occasions, and provide opportunities to gain skills and experience. Some will include formal training sessions. ...full article

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Celebrating Daneway's 40th Birthday Tuesday Jun 3rd 2008 Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is celebrating this month a very special anniversary… Daneway Banks Nature Reserve, 40th Anniversary Daneway Banks near Sapperton (just off the A419 between Stroud & Cirencester), celebrates its ruby anniversary this year. The reserve was leased to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust by the Bathurst Estate, to manage as a Nature Reserve 40 years ago. So, what’s special about Daneway Banks? The beautiful and very rare large blue butterfly was reintroduced to the reserve in 2002 (it had previously been extinct in the county since the 1960s). The reserve provides the large blue with a unique habitat and special conditions in which to breed. The large blue relies on another sp...full article

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Old London Road Open Day on Sunday, 22nd June Monday Jun 2nd 2008 Following a year-long project funded by the Big Lottery Fund and the BBC Breathing Place’s campaign, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust invites you to a special open day at Old London Road nature reserve, Wotton-under-Edge, on Sunday 22nd of June, from 11am to 2pm. The nature reserve and the surrounding woodland is one of only two places in Britain where it is possible to see the rare Limestone Woundwort (Stachys alpina), and now is the time to see it in flower. Visitors to the Open Day on Sunday 22nd June will be able to meet the plant, learn about the management that local volunteers have been doing to conserve it, and see other work that we have been doing at the site: 1. Traditionally laid hedge 2. Brand...full article

** Father’s Day, Sunday 15 June 2008 ** Remembered Father's Day? You really otter... Monday Jun 2nd 2008 Forget socks and beer mugs this Father’s Day; give your dad the gift of an adopted species instead. Choose from:  Brown hare  Barn owl  Stag beetle  Otter  Water vole  Dormouse These six wonderful species have been identified as priority species in the Biodiversity Action Plan and need special protection. Your money will go towards helping us to protect their habitats in order to help them survive. As a proud adoptee, your dad will receive a fun-filled pack including an adoption certificate, a factsheet, a photograph and a pop-up model. And we can even write out a specially personalised gift label. For example, “To dad, a brown hare to remind you of the colour your hair used to be.”<...full article

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Nationally important wetland to become a ‘wildlife highway’ One of the UK’s most important areas of wetland habitat, the Severn Vale in Gloucestershire, is to be developed into a (Gloucestershire’s first) ‘wildlife highway’ to help species move as they adapt to climate change. Wednesday Apr 23th 2008 The five year Severn Vale Living Landscape project is the most ambitious ever undertaken by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, which is unveiling full details for the first time at an event today. The aim of the project is to join up wetland habitats in the Severn Vale that have become fragmented as land use has changed, leaving wildlife stranded and unable to move north as temperatures rise. As a Living Landscape project, new habitat areas will be created so the land remains agriculturally viable. This will be done in partnership with local landowners to the benefit of many wetland species including wading birds, water voles and otters. “Essentially, what we’re doing is creating a ‘wildlife highway’, an escap...full article

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International Earth Day Tuesday Apr 22th 2008 On the 22nd April, the northern hemisphere celebrates Earth Day! Founded in the late 1960s, Earth Day is intended to inspire appreciation of the environment and the beauty of nature. The southern hemisphere celebrates their Earth Day in the Autumn. Here's some suggestions for how you can observe Earth Day: Start composting and cut down on your household waste Take a walk around one of our beautiful nature reserves Cycle or walk to/from work or school and cut down on your carbon emissions Stop collecting plastic bags and take reuseable ones shopping with you Have a very happy Earth Day!...full article

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Compost Awareness Week 4th to the 10th of May 2008 Friday Apr 11th 2008 FREE Composting Workshops & Stands happening this May :- · Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley (Building a Compost Bin Workshop)– 5th May 3pm – 4.30pm * · Ruardean Woodside –Dede Liss’ Garden (Building a Compost Bin, Composting and No Dig Workshop) – 5th May 11am -12.30pm · Newent Allotments (Composting Workshop)- 17th May 10.30-12.00 · Gloucester Folk museum (Composting demonstrations, no need to book) 10th May, anytime between 11am - 3pm · Saintbridge Allotments, Gloucester (Composting and No Dig workshop) 4th May – 11am -12.30pm · Tredworth Allotments, Gloucester (No Dig Workshop) 11th May 11am – 12.30pm · Snowshill Manor, Snowshill (Composting workshop) – 10th May 2pm - 4pm * · Tewkesbury Food...full article

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Mapping out the future for Gloucestershire’s Wildlife Tuesday Mar 4th 2008 On Tuesday the 4th of March, at 10.30am in the Council Chambers at Shire Hall in Gloucester, the Nature Map for Gloucestershire waslaunched to an invited audience of some of the county’s leading decision makers. What is the Nature Map? The Nature Map for Gloucestershire is the solution to the unprecedented challenge which our wildlife will face over the next 50 years. It shows where the characteristic habitats that typify the county and support its wildlife can be expanded and linked to help wildlife survive in an uncertain future. In simple terms it is an Adaptive Strategy for our wildlife. Today important habitats are a mere remnant of their former extent, and exist as isolated havens in a fragmented land...full article

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2008 Primary Schools Quiz is underway... Monday Mar 3rd 2008 Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Primary Schools’ Wildlife Quiz 117 schools have entered teams of four pupils in the knock-out challenge to find this year’s champion wildlife school. Dursley Primary School who were winners in 2007 are keen to defend their title. If you would like to know more about the Quiz or other ways that schools can get involved with wildlife matters, please ring Rosie Woolley (Community Development Officer) on 01452 389964 or Margaret Westmore (Primary Schools Officer) on 01452 389963...full article

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Rescue Ratty Campaign Launch Help Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to “Rescue Ratty” Monday Feb 18th 2008 2008 will be year of the water vole at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust – for a very good reason. You may already know that this species is threatened in our county and there are now only a few small, fragmented and vulnerable populations in Gloucestershire. Despite being protected by law, the water vole is the fastest declining mammal in the UK. Without action we can expect that it will become extinct in Gloucestershire in our lifetime. We can not afford to wait any longer and that is why Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) has established its Rescue Ratty Campaign and why we now need your help. Also known as 'Ratty' Many of us first learned about water voles through Kenneth Grahame’s depiction of Ratty in hi...full article

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GIVE GROWING A GO THIS YEAR Tuesday Jan 22th 2008 Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is challenging everyone in the county to have a go at growing some food this year. According to the Trust’s Don’t Waste Wildlife project growing some of your own vegetables or fruit, especially if you use home made compost, will help the county stay fit and healthy through 2008 and beyond. “This is the best time of year to make a start,” says Alison Ensor, Don’t Waste Wildlife project officer. “Growing food is not just easy and cheap, it’s good for body and soul. It’s also good for the earth, which is great news for Gloucestershire’s wildlife. I’m not exaggerating when I say that any home grown food is the ultimate health food. “You can grow your own even if you don’t have a ga...full article

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