The Wildlife Trusts

There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. Together, The Wildlife Trusts are the UK’s largest people-powered environmental organisation working for nature’s recovery on land and at sea. Each Wildlife Trust is an independent charity is deeply-rooted within the local communities from which it was formed - most had been established by the end of the 1960s (usually, but not always, at a county-wide level), often set up by local activists determined to save what they could - the last remaining meadows, ancient woods, heaths - in the face of widespread devastation to our natural environment. Our strength lies in our localness and our knowledge of local places and people. Our work comes out of, and is accountable to, the local communities we are part of. However, our additional strength lies in the fact that all 47 Trusts are able to come together to champion nature to national audiences. Each Trust is a corporate member of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT, registered charity number 207238), a charity founded in 1912 by banker and philanthropist Charles Rothschild. This federated structure is adopted widely in the social, or people-focused, charity sector where a national voice and local needs are equally important. This structure suits our personality down to the ground. We are people-focussed in the way we deliver our work – working with local people to improve our local environment and quality of life. As the umbrella organisation, RSWT is a relatively small central coordinating team for The Wildlife Trust movement that provides leadership for the strategic development and ensuring that the interests of The Wildlife Trusts are represented on all occasions when a strong collective voice is required. It has responsibilities for collective work at an England level and for orchestrating our collective work at a UK level. It also has a role to play in ensuring our federated structure is as ef