GWCT News Blog

We have been waiting with increasing frustration for the publication of a draft Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE) – a policy document that was promised in early 2021 during the debates over putting soil on the face of the Environment Bill (now Act).

The 2023 Big Farmland Bird Count is now underway and runs from 3-19 February 2023.

The GWCT advises all those who wish to shoot woodcock to exercise particular care and improve their knowledge of local populations, thus enabling the shoot to minimise their impact on resident birds.

The GWCT's Roger Draycott addresses some of the frequently asked questions about taking part in the Big Farmland Bird Count.

The brand new BASIS Game Management course is aimed at all individuals who have responsibility for managing a shoot, including head keepers, singlehanded keepers, estate managers, land agents, landowners, shoot managers and shoot captains.

The following management recommendations are made based on our experience of the past fifty years and the body of research we have carried out at the GWCT.

It will come as a welcome relief to the farming industry that Defra’s announcement on the 26^th of January finally puts a significant amount of detail into the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) tier of the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. 

We provide an update on the Hunting with Dogs Bill, snaring, Avian influenza and the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill consultation.

By leaving a gift to the GWCT in your Will, you will be doing something very special. You will be giving us the best chance of ensuring the countryside you love is there to be enjoyed by generations to come. So that they can have that same moment that makes them love the nature around them.

We're pleased to announce that we've added more dates to our training course schedule for early 2023. Courses covering subjects such as predation management, heather burning and lowland game management have all been confirmed.