Durham Wildlife Trust

The Heart of Durham is a partnership project with Durham Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water Limited. Based around the fringe of the North Pennines, stretching from Derwent Reservoir in the north to Hamsterley Forest in the south, the Heart of Durham Project works to restore and recreate areas of habitat over a period of many years, with the cumulative effect of restoring landscapes where wildlife can thrive on a landscape scale.

The Nextdoor Nature initiative is a national lottery funded project to be delivered by Wildlife Trusts across the country and will leave a natural legacy from the Queen's Jubilee. Nextdoor Nature aims to create a huge network of community-led rewilding projects across the nation – all part of the total £22m of Lottery investment to mark the Jubilee and improve the lives of people from disadvantaged areas across the UK.

Durham Wildlife Trust, through Nextdoor Nature is supporting community groups and schools across Sunderland, South Tyneside, East Durham, and Darlington, encouraging them to work with the wider community to bring wildlife back and make a difference for nature close to where they live.

The Discover Brightwater Landscape Project is a National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project that aims to reveal, restore and celebrate the heritage of the Brightwater area. Durham Wildlife Trust are the programme leaders for this Landscape Partnership which involves 19 different project streams including river habitat improvements, wetland creation, heritage and archaeology involving local communities around the River Skerne catchment from the Trimdons to Darlington in the south and Shildon in the west. The project will run from the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2023, by which time almost £3m will have been invested in our heritage.

The Healing Nature Project ran from January 2021 until March 2022 and was a Green Recovery Challenge Fund project, funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and our partners at Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council, and Sunderland Council.

The project undertook habitat work for wildlife conservation and engaged people and communities with their local area and greenspaces across 20 sites spread across Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside. Public events were attended by over 845 people on project sites and over 531 children from over 29 schools engaged with nature through Healing Nature. A catalogue of habitat management was performed including 47.4 hectares of grassland management, 650m of hedgerow planted, 1.15 hectares of native broadleaf woodland planted and 14,000 wildflower bulbs planted to name a few achievements.

The Durham Biodiversity Partnership, which covers the same geographic area as Durham Wildlife Trust, was established in 1996 to oversee the development, implementation and monitoring of the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), which is the medium through which the United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan is translated into action within the county of Durham. Members of the Partnership include a wide range of organisations and individuals who have an interest in the BAP.[2]

Durham Wildlife Trust plays an important role in the Partnership. It provides a home for the Partnership at Rainton Meadows, and is represented on the Partnership's steering group, alongside representatives from Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission, Northumbrian Water, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, the North East Biodiversity Forum, and the County, City and Borough Councils within the area.[3] The Trust also operates, on behalf of the Partnership, the Durham Biodiversity Data Service, which provides high-quality species and habitat data.[4]

Durham Wildlife Services is the Trust's commercial arm, providing an ecological consultancy service to businesses and local authorities. Although its customer base is primarily within Durham, it operates across the whole of the United Kingdom. A particular speciality is the preparation of "environmental stewardship" plans, under which farmers are able to obtain funding for properly managed conservation schemes on their land.[5]

Profits generated by DWS are covenanted to Durham Wildlife Trust.[6]

Education is an important aspect of the Trust's work. The main education centre is at Rainton Meadows, near Houghton-le-Spring; as well as being conveniently close to the most populous parts of the county, in Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside, this centre has an indoor classroom and conference centre. At Low Barns, near Bishop Auckland, there is a second education centre, which caters primarily to outdoor activities.

In addition to educational facilities at its own sites, the Trust also has an educational outreach programme, under which Trust staff make visits schools or community groups.[7]

The Trust currently manages the following reserves: