Marcus Jansen, Executive Director of Schöffel Country, presented a cheque for £24,226 to Alastair Leake, director of the GWCT’s Allerton Project, at the Trust’s flagship demonstration farm in Loddington, Leicestershire. The donation was for the total raised by the autumn giveback campaign whereby 5% of all sales through the Schöffel Country website went to the GWCT.
Alastair said: “We are delighted to accept this generous donation and very grateful for Schöffel’s ongoing support for the GWCT. This funding will help us continue our programme of on-farm scientific research and training for farmers and policy makers. The work feeds into the development of the national policy framework for agri-environment schemes and enables us to provide the best advice for those private land managers or working conservationists on the ground, who are essential to delivering UK food security alongside species recovery and climate change mitigation.”
This is the 30th year of biodiversity monitoring at the Allerton Project, which has clearly demonstrated how the three-legged stool of habitat improvement, supplementary feeding and predation management can reverse biodiversity decline in the farmed environment. This important long-term monitoring continues on the farm at Loddington alongside the development of profitable regenerative farming systems, addressing soil and water health and greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Marcus said: “A passion for the British countryside has shaped Schöffel Country from day one. For three decades it has underpinned much of what we do as a brand – it’s in our DNA.
“We choose to support the GWCT, because is leading the way in research and projects relating to wildlife-friendly farming. What sets it apart, though, is a focus on evidence-based findings that help landowners, farmers and policymakers make pragmatic choices for the environment.
“Put simply, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is an organisation we’re very proud to support.”
The new national conservation awards, the Schöffel Countryside Awards, were launched earlier this month in partnership with the GWCT. Click here to learn more.