25-420: Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset , England. The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature reserves . Examples include Westhay Moor , Long Wood and Langford Heathfield . It has over 20,500 members and 500 volunteers. The Somerset Wildlife Trust
50-723: A base for fields trips, which still stands. During his lifetime he built and managed his Ashton Wold estate in Northamptonshire to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of the Wildlife Trusts partnership. He produced 'the Rothschild List',
75-426: A children's naturalist club. By the late 1980s membership had reached 200,000, increasing to 260,000 in 1995, and over 500,000 by 2004. The combined membership for 2007 stood at 670,000 members, 108,000 belonging to the junior branch Wildlife Watch. By 2012, membership was over 800,000, with over 150,000 Wildlife Watch members. Charles Rothschild Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (9 May 1877 – 12 October 1923)
100-500: A common interest in wildlife and biodiversity, rooted in a practical tradition of land management and conservation. Almost all Wildlife Trusts are significant landowners, with many nature reserves. Collectively they are the third largest voluntary sector landowners in the UK. They often have extensive educational activities, and programmes of public events and education. The Wildlife Trusts centrally and locally also lobby for better protection of
125-771: A descendant of an old Austrian-Jewish family that was ennobled long before the Rothschilds. She was born in 1870 at Nagyvárad , Hungary (now the Romanian city of Oradea ), the daughter of a retired army officer, Baron Alfred Edler von Wertheimstein. Alfred's sister Charlotte was married to Moritz von Königswarter [ de ] . Rózsika was one of seven children and had been a champion lawn tennis player in Hungary. After their marriage on 6 February 1907, they lived at Tring and in London . Rothschild, who worked in
150-458: A partner in the family bank N M Rothschild & Sons in London. He went to Rothschild's Bank every morning; despite all his interest in science and in natural history, he never missed a day. He was also very interested in the gold refinery operated by Rothschild's, and invented a variety of devices for collecting gold, and working on gold from a scientific point of view. He also became Chairman of
175-498: A schedule of the best 284 wildlife sites in the country, some of which were purchased as nature reserves; the list was published in 1915 by the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves. As well as a Lieutenant of the City of London, Rothschild became a JP for the county of Northamptonshire in 1902. He served as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1905. In 1907, Rothschild married Rózsika Edle von Wertheimstein (1870–1940),
200-407: Is a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) . The Wildlife Trusts offer a Biodiversity Benchmark scheme through which companies can be assessed and recognised for their contribution to biodiversity. The assessment covers the organisation's performance under the headings of "Commitment, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring and Review". The Wildlife Trusts are one of
225-402: Is an independent charity, with a membership formed of the 46 individual charitable Trusts. It acts as an umbrella group for the individual Wildlife Trusts, as well as operating a separate Grants Unit which administers a number of funds. King Charles III serves as the patron of the Wildlife Trusts. David Bellamy was president of The Wildlife Trusts for ten years between 1995 and 2005, and
250-540: Is credited with establishing the UK's first nature reserve when (at the age of 22) he bought Wicken Fen , near Ely, in 1899. Wicken Fen was presented to the National Trust but the Trust declined to take Woodwalton Fen , near Huntingdon, which Rothschild bought in 1910, and this wetland, now a National Nature Reserve , was kept as a private nature reserve. In 1911 Rothschild built a bungalow at Woodwalton Fen as
275-687: Is now in the Rothschild Collection at the Natural History Museum ; he described about 500 new flea species. One of these, which he discovered and named, was the Bubonic plague vector flea, Xenopsylla cheopis , also known as the oriental rat flea, which he collected at Shendi , Sudan, on an expedition in 1901, publishing his finding in 1903. Rothschild is regarded as a pioneer of nature conservation in Britain, and
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#1732772371291300-736: Is part of the Wildlife Trusts partnership of 46 wildlife trusts in the United Kingdom. In 2010 the organisation won a Biffa Award for their "Restoring Habitat for Dormice in Somerset" scheme. In 2011 the Trust appealed for £100,000 from local residents and businesses to restore former peat diggings on the Somerset Levels . The Nature reserves include: (* = Reserves designated as Sites of Scientific Interest) The Wildlife Trusts partnership The Wildlife Trusts ,
325-492: The Alliance Assurance Company . Charles predeceased his older brother Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868–1937), who died without issue. The peerage therefore passed to Charles's son Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild . Like his zoologist brother Walter, Charles devoted much of his energies to entomology and natural history collecting. His enormous collection of some 260,000 fleas
350-580: The Promotion of Nature Reserves (SPNR), which was formed by Charles Rothschild in 1912. It aimed initially to draw up a list of the country's best wildlife sites with a view to purchase for protection as nature reserves, and by 1915 it had drawn up a list of 284 (including the Farne Islands and the Norfolk Broads ), known as Rothschild Reserves. During the early years, membership tended to be made up of specialist naturalists and its growth
375-481: The UK's natural heritage, by becoming involved in planning matters and by national campaigning through the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts . The Trusts rely heavily upon volunteer labour for many of their activities, but nevertheless employ significant numbers of staff in countryside management and education. Thanks to their work promoting the personal and social development of young people, The Wildlife Trusts
400-470: The family's banking business, was a dedicated naturalist in his spare time: the young couple had met on a butterfly -collecting trip in the Carpathian Mountains . In the evening, they might go together to a concert or a dinner party, but he really preferred to sort out his butterflies. Together, they had four children: Suffering from encephalitis , in 1923 Rothschild died by suicide . He
425-606: The first urban Wildlife Trust (now the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country ) was established in the West Midlands , rapidly followed by others in London, Bristol and Sheffield. This was a watershed for the movement that strengthened its focus on wildlife and people. It was during this period that some Trusts changed their names from Naturalist Societies to Trusts for Nature Conservation. In 2002
450-589: The geographical areas they served. Encouraged by the growing number of Trusts, the SPNR began in 1957 to discuss the possibility of forming a national federation of Naturalists' Trusts. Kent Naturalists Trust was established in 1958 with SPNR being active in encouraging its formation. In the following year the SPNR established the County Naturalists' Committee, which organised the first national conference for Naturalists' Trusts at Skegness in 1960. By 1964,
475-456: The group changed their name to The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. The badger logo was adopted by the movement to establish its common identity. Also in 2002, the newest wildlife trust was formed, in Alderney . As the number of Trusts grew, so did their combined membership, from 3,000 in 1960 to 21,000 in 1965. Membership topped 100,000 in 1975, and in that year Wildlife Watch was launched as
500-437: The number of Trusts had increased to 36 and the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves had changed its name to The Society for the Promotion of Nature Conservation. In recognition of the movement's growing importance, its name was changed to The Royal Society for Nature Conservation in 1981. The movement continued to develop throughout the 1970s, and, by the early 1980s, most of today's Trusts had been established. In 1980,
525-494: The steering group partners of Neighbourhoods Green , a partnership initiative which works with social landlords and housing associations to highlight the importance of, and raise the overall quality of design and management for, open and green space in social housing. Kathryn Brown OBE was appointed as the charity’s first director of climate action in January 2022. Today's Wildlife Trust movement began life as The Society for
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#1732772371291550-592: The trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts , is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom , the Isle of Man and Alderney . The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2,300 nature reserves , covering around 98,500 hectares (243,000 acres). As of 2020 , the Trusts have a combined membership of over 870,000 members. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT)
575-734: Was an English banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family . He is remembered for 'the Rothschild List', a list he made in 1915 of 284 sites across Britain that he considered suitable for nature reserves . Nathaniel Charles Rothschild was born in London into the Jewish Rothschild family , a prominent family of bankers. His parents, Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild , and Emma Rothschild ( née von Rothschild), were cousins. Charles boarded at Harrow School , which he found somewhat traumatising for incidents of bullying on account of his religion. He worked as
600-894: Was comparatively slow. The first independent Trust was formed in Norfolk in 1926 as the Norfolk Naturalists Trust, followed in 1938 by the Pembrokeshire Bird Protection Society which after several subsequent changes of name is now the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and it was not until the 1940s and 1950s that more Naturalists' Trusts were formed in Yorkshire (1946), Lincolnshire (1948), Leicestershire (1956) and Cambridgeshire (1956). These early Trusts tended to focus on purchasing land to establish nature reserves in
625-494: Was succeeded by Aubrey Manning . Sir David Attenborough, Simon King and Tony Juniper are all Presidents Emeritus. Stephanie Hilborne OBE was chief executive for 15 years, and left in October 2019. Craig Bennett became CEO from April 6, 2020. Wildlife Trusts are local organisations of differing size, history and origins, and can vary greatly in their constitution, activities and membership. However, all Wildlife Trusts share
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