Durham Wildlife Trust

By Trash Talk on Sep 18, 08 04:24 PM

Premier Waste Management have just become a premier member of Durham
Wildlife Trust.
Founded in 1971 by local nature enthusiasts, Durham Wildlife Trust has
grown into the leading conservation body in the region between the Tyne
and the borders of Teesside. The Trust is at the forefront of protecting
the area's precious wildlife and works hard to get as many people as
possible involved in local wildlife conservation.

The most obvious way the Trust looks after wildlife is through its
network of 25 nature reserves. These sites range from Hedleyhope Fell
the Trust's largest reserve near Tow Law at 204 hectares, to tiny
Ragpath Heath near Lanchester at only 3.5 hectares. Most reserves are
open to the public and enjoyed by thousands of visitors, from leisure
walkers to committed wildlife enthusiasts. For those who prefer to sit
and relax with a coffee, the Trust runs three Visitor Centres - Rainton
Meadows near Houghton le Spring, Bowlees near Middleton in Teesdale and
Low Barns outside Witton le Wear.

The future for wildlife in this region remains uncertain. The ever
increasing demand for housing and climate change are just two factors
which threaten many species already in decline such as water vole, some
species of bat, butterflies, the barn owl, house sparrow and of course
red squirrel. Because of this Durham Wildlife Trust is passionate about
getting young people involved in all aspects of the environment, and
has provided environmental education courses to 3000 schoolchildren so
far this year. It is hoped some of these youngsters will become the
wildlife champions of the future.

Adam Eagle, Marketing Manager of Durham Wildlife Trust has grounds for
optimism for the future. "I read recently that a staggering 28 million
people in Britain watch wildlife programmes on the television. And we
are seeing that interest here in the region because our membership is
growing faster than it's ever done before. People seem to genuinely
care what happens to local wildlife and wildplaces. With that support,
we hope to achieve a huge amount in the years to come".