Gloucestershire is lucky enough to have a range of different habitats across the Forest of Dean, Severn Vale, Stroud Valleys and the Cotswolds.Each of these is home to a wealth of different habitats and species.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust was formed to work towards conserving habitats for the benefit of wildlife across the county.

We do this by sensitively managing our nature reserves and running other additional projects working to protect specific species such as the water vole.

A Living Landscape

Through scientific research it has become evident that wildlife and the countryside is becoming increasingly fragmented and that wildlife sites and species populations are no longer connected by land that is friendly to wildlife.

In the face of a changing climate this poses a real threat to our native wildlife. In the years to come, species will need the ability to move and adapt to the changing landscape around them and find the food and shelter that they need to survive in other areas. They will struggle to do this in the landscape which exists today.

With this in mind, Wildlife Trusts across the UK are aiming to complement their work on nature reserves by connecting habitats across the countryside such as woodlands, grasslands and wetlands to form larger more viable tracts of land in which our wildlife can thrive and spread.

Everyone can play their part in this by connecting their own small patch such as gardens, village greens and school grounds together to provide joined up areas for wildlife. This initiative is called Living Landscapes, within which we are creating Wildlife Highways.

After producing the UK's first county Nature Map along with other conservation partners in the Gloucestershire Biodiversity Partnership, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust launched it's own Living Landscape project in April 2008. Find out more on our Severn Vale Living Landscape.