Securing Wildlife Habitat For The Future

Since its inception in 1986, the Wildlife Habitat Trust has helped clubs and projects across the UK to acquire land and enhance conservation

- Jack Knott

Actions speak louder than words. It was with this maxim that the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) understood the requirement to provide a portal to show our commitment to both shooting and conservation in equal measure on the ground. To that end, the Wildlife Habitat Trust (WHT) was established in 1986 at the request of BASC members. It has become well known as the UK’s sporting shooting conservation fund and has seen BASC lead successfully by example.

Today, there are three separate trusts: the WHT lends money to support land purchase for shooting and conservation purposes; the Wildlife Habitat Charitable Trust (WHCT)provides funding, in the form of both loans and grants, where charitable objectives are met by the conservation project; finally, the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp Trust (WHCST) is the merchandising and fundraising arm. Each year the WHCST commissions a prominent wildlife artist to paint an iconic wild bird with an equally renowned backdrop. In 2019, the fundraising stamp artwork was by Chris Lodge and featured a woodcock on the Stackpole Estate in Pembrokeshire.

Since their inception, both the WHT and WHCT have played a significant role in funding and aiding conservation projects. In total, more than £2.1m has been distributed in the form of loans and grants. Dedicated to raising and distributing funds to help with the acquisition of land and overseeing project management, both the WHT and WHCT have become leaders in initiating practical conservation. With dozens of successful grants over the decades, the work undertaken by the recipients of funding can be seen across the UK and farther afield.