Our early years
The need during the years of the Second World War to grow food on marginal land led to a growing realisation that wildlife and the countryside were generally under threat. Naturalists’ Trusts were being set up in some counties to conserve their wildlife and sites of ecological value, under the auspices of what is now The Wildlife Trusts. In 1962, the Cornwall Naturalists’ Trust was launched. The inaugural meeting chose a committee. Within a few months, we were leased our first nature reserve, Hawkes Wood, by Miss Sewart, who later generously gave the reserve to the Trust.
From its inception, the Trust was asked to give technical advice on land management and on planning matters. Our determination that all opinions must be scientifically based on valid data resulted in our advice being increasingly sought by local authorities and other statutory bodies.
In our first year we had 63 members, and sub-committees were formed to oversee our different activities. Membership continued to grow as the existence of the Trust and the appreciation of its efforts became more widely known. More demands were being made by local authorities and more reserves were being acquired.
Expanding our remit
In 1974, it was recognised that the Trust could no longer function adequately with only its indefatigable band of volunteers and a part time Administrative Officer was appointed. Five years later, the Trust appointed its first Conservation Officer and opened an office at the National Trust’s Trelissick Gardens. It became possible, with workers who were paid through the Manpower Services Commission, to extend the work being done by the Trust in all areas and the Trust moved into the next exciting phase of its life.
Although the name was changed in 1983 to the Cornwall Trust for Nature Conservation, the aims and constitution remained broadly the same: the recording and study of important ecological sites; the setting up of nature reserves; promotion of educational activities to these ends; and generally to encourage the conservation of Cornwall’s wildlife.
During the 1980s there was considerable development of the Trust's work, largely funded by government employment schemes. This came to an end in 1988 leaving the Trust with two full time staff: a Conservation Officer and a Secretary.
At the same time, thanks to a generous bequest from the late Dr George Allsop, the Trust moved to new headquarters at Allet. It was at this time that the Trust began to develop consultancy work to raise funds, enabling the employment of additional staff. With continued expansion, the post of Director was created in April 1991 and the name of Cornwall Wildlife Trust was adopted in March 1994 in line with a national initiative to unify Wildlife Trust names to facilitate marketing and publicity.
In the past few years we have celebrated our 45th anniversary and MBEs (Member of the British Empire) for two of our earliest volunteers, Stella Turk and Jean Paton.
In 2008 we marked Fox Club’s 25th anniversary.
Current day
As concern for wildlife and the countryside has grown, Cornwall Wildlife Trust has gone from strength to strength. Now, with more than 14,000 members, the Trust can build on the secure base that it has established. Our year’s work to February 2009, recently reported on at our annual Discovery Day/AGM in November 2009, saw some exciting new projects and developments, both locally and nationally.
- Initiatives in the past year have included a major new landscape-scale project in West Cornwall: Wild Penwith, which aims to restore and enhance habitats across 9000 hectares on the far west peninsula. We were fortunate in obtaining funding for this project, which will enable us to work with South West Water and local landowners in the coming years to help us achieve an ecologically robust Living Landscape and to confirm whether this landscape-scale approach to conservation is the best way forward. The principle focuses on restoring large areas of habitat, which in turn helps to maintain species populations. By increasing habitat area through re-creation and restoration, and by creating links and wildlife corridors through intervening land, we can help species to spread or 'percolate’ through the countryside. Allowing species to move freely between habitats means populations do not become isolated, making them less vulnerable.
- A substantial portion of Cornwall’s key wildlife sites were also surveyed again during the year, and their owners given advice to ensure their appropriate long-term management. Of course we also have our own nature reserves to manage, and we have continued to enhance habitats and access throughout all of them.
It is not just individually that Wildlife Trusts have a positive effect; collectively we can wield some weight at a national level, and in recent years much collective effort has been expended on the need for legislation that will provide protection for our UK seas and shores. It has been a long haul - a marine bill has been on the political agenda since 2001!
- As you may be aware, we have been successful and such a Bill finally progressed through parliament and received Royal Assent in November 2009 as the Marine and Coastal Access Act. In being approved by the House of Commons on 27th October, the Wildlife Trusts - among others - were thanked for all that they had done in promoting, commenting upon, advising, and briefing members of parliament on the Bill throughout all of its stages through the Commons. But the Marine Act is just the beginning; its provisions have to be implemented. One of the more important of these is the establishment of a network of Marine Protected Areas and, at a regional level, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and others have been fully active in the Finding Sanctuary project to identify Marine Protection Zones in the SW.
- Your local Trust in Cornwall has also remained very active in gathering relevant data from other programmes such as surveying pink sea fans, Seasearch dives to collect data on the distribution of over 300 marine species, surveying basking sharks offshore, our continuing work of monitoring cetacean strandings all around the coast, as well as our unique ‘pinger’ project in relation to inshore fisheries
We have also strengthened our working relationship with Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust throughout the year to assist them in developing their conservation aims and obligations on the islands.
Over the past few decades, a great deal of change has taken place in Cornwall’s countryside. Happily, in conservation terms Cornwall remains one of the richest and most diverse counties in Britain and, through its work since 1962, Cornwall Wildlife Trust has worked, and will continue to work to ensure that this status is maintained.
