During the first week of March over 190,000 households in Dorset will receive a mailing about Dorset Wildlife Trust’s (DWT’s) new campaign ‘Say YES to wildlife’, to inspire and encourage new supporters to help DWT continue its conservation work protecting wildlife in Dorset.
The campaign follows the worrying State of Nature report which was published in September 2016, revealing that half of the UK’s native species are in decline, with 15% facing extinction.
DWT Director of Marketing and Fundraising, Alastair Cook, said, “The uncertainty of how nature and the environment will fare under Brexit and the ever-changing economic climate means that our only guaranteed income comes from the generosity of our fabulous supporters. It is now more important than ever that we continue, and in some areas, step up our conservation work, to help turn around the fortunes for wildlife locally. To do this we need to further increase our support from local people.”
Regular donations from supporters of DWT have enabled DWT to carry out conservation work on its 44 nature reserves in Dorset, where wildlife is already benefitting. For instance, in 2015/16, year two of our new butterfly transect at Bracketts Coppice nature reserve recorded an annual ‘index’ of 2,480 butterflies, up by 500 from the previous year.
Numbers of the endangered* marsh fritillary butterfly have increased on Powerstock Common nature reserve, after concerns their numbers were falling the year before, and DWT found they had spread into another area at the nearby Kingcombe Meadows nature reserve, where breeding has not occurred for some years.
Alastair continues, “We already know that many people in Dorset appreciate wildlife, and we often hear stories about their wildlife encounters, such as a seeing a hedgehog in their garden. But we need everyone to turn their love for wildlife into action, and help make a meaningful difference to wildlife in Dorset”
To say YES to wildlife today, visitwtru.st/sayyesdorset. In return for your support we’ll send you a guide to our nature reserves, information about events and you’ll receive regular copies of our Dorset Wildlife magazine, keeping you up to date on how your donations are helping save the wildlife we all love.
