Investors in Wildlife
Essex Wildlife Trust began the Investors in Wildlife scheme in 1991 when Cliff Moore, a volunteer at the Trust, recruited founding business members who wanted to support their local conservation charity and work towards helping the environment. Over the past 30 years the scheme has grown to over 400 members, a network of Essex businesses that forms the largest corporate scheme within the national Wildlife Trust movement. Many of our founding members are still working with the Trust today. Bennetts Funeral Directors, Hugh Pearl Land Drainage Ltd and Essex & Suffolk Water all continue to help protect our beautiful county for the benefit of wildlife. Our partnership with Essex & Suffolk Water over the past 28 years has seen us working closely together to improve the biodiversity and protect the wildlife at Abberton and Hanningfield Reservoirs, while allowing public access to the community and outdoor learning activities alongside delivering the vital water supply to the people of Essex. Most recently, Essex & Suffolk Water sponsored a community project to remove plastic tree guards and recycle them, supported by another Investor in Wildlife, Essex County Council, who also volunteered to remove the tree guards with our Landscape Conservation team. This project has been a testament to what can be achieved when businesses and Wildlife Trusts work together. We have been fortunate to be supported by many Investors in Wildlife on specific conservation projects over the past few decades. Many corporate members supported us with the Essex Barn Owl Conservation Project by sponsoring nest boxes and volunteering their time and expertise to help reduce costs. This project saw over 300 nest boxes installed throughout Essex and 470 barn owls ringed, contributing data into national monitoring reports and datasets. Barn owl photo: Russell Savory
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WILD Winter 2021
