Blogs

Is the focus on carbon distracting from the benefits of considering soil health in the round?

What are the parties promising our farmers and land managers?

Presenter Dougie Vipond made a visit to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s demonstration farm in Aberdeenshire to see how their landscape-scale approach to farming and conservation is helping wader species such as lapwing, oystercatcher and curlew thrive.

Open Farm Sunday has been taking place in June every year since 2006, and this year the GWCT took part in several events across the country. The day provides an opportunity for farmers to share their fabulous work with all ages, by opening their farms to the general public, and showcasing the many goods and services they provide.

I recently returned from the biennial EURAF European Agroforestry Conference in the Czech Republic. My train from Vienna was cancelled because of exceptionally severe flooding in Austria and southern Germany so that I arrived home a day late. It was a relatively minor inconvenience. The flooding resulted in fatalities, river levels rising to their highest level in a century, and the Danube being closed to shipping.

Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Scotland’s Fiona Torrance recently took Dougie Vipond from BBC Landward on a grey partridge count around the fields of Balgonie, where conservation efforts have seen numbers of this iconic farmland bird soar in the last 10 years.

There's a cause that is close to our hearts at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. The grey partridge, not only our emblem but also a vital biodiversity indicator species, is in urgent need of help.

The latest season of Springwatch on BBC One praised farmers in the Martin Down Farmer Cluster for their hard work in restoring biodiversity and supporting wildlife across their land at a landscape scale.

Elin Thomas, GWCT Cymru’s Agriculture and Conservation Officer, along with Lee Oliver, Director for Wales, attended the Sustainable Grass and Muck Event at Aberystwyth Uni’s Trawsgoed Farm, Aberystwyth last Thursday as part of Ceredigion’s County Events in the run up to the Royal Welsh Show.

Don't miss your chance to bid on this unique auction lot before Friday 7th June.