Tag: National Trust

Steve the Great Escape beaver finally finds love and starts a family with mate, Doris

Stuart Mitchell

Steve the beaver, who captured hearts in 2025 for ‘looking for love’ after repeatedly escaping from his enclosure at Wallington in Northumberland, has finally achieved his ambition.  After being rehomed to an enclosure on a nature-friendly farm in mid-Wales, Steve has welcomed his first kit with mate, Doris. Steve the beaver was originally released at Wallington on 12 July 2023 as part of a family of four Eurasian beavers relocated from the River Tay in Scotland. The family settled into a 24-hectare fenced enclosure on a tributary of the River Wansbeck, immediately beginning to transform the landscape.  After several severe storms in the first year of their release, the…

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Four National Trust projects to benefit from record government investment

Stuart Mitchell

Species at four National Trust places are due to receive funds from the largest ever investment in recovering England’s wildlife, Natural England announced last month, as part of the government’s “Wild Again: Restoring England’s Wildlife” initiative to turn the tide for England’s wildlife. Threatened Arctic alpine species including mountain eyebright and Borrowdale hawkweed, Atlantic salmon and the diamond backed spider are just some of the species set to benefit from the near £1.9 million investment awarded to the National Trust – a slice of the £60 million largest ever investment…

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Endangered water voles reintroduced at Woolacombe after major restoration project

Stuart Mitchell

Water voles are being reintroduced to North Devon after being declared functionally extinct from the area in 2000, following a major National Trust habitat restoration project at Woolacombe. Once widespread across the UK, water voles have declined sharply due to habitat loss, water pollution and the arrival of the American Mink. Since 2022, extensive work across the Combesgate catchment has restored habitats and natural processes to local waterways, creating the right conditions for their return. Their burrows create flowering habitats which support bugs, butterflies and other riverside species. This work…

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National Trust teams up with Youngwilders to put young people at the forefront of England’s nature recovery

Stuart Mitchell

The National Trust is joining forces with youth led non-profit, Youngwilders, this summer, to enable hundreds of young people to lead projects to restore nature across some of England’s most iconic landscapes. With many young people feeling anxious about the state of nature, Youngwilders was founded in 2022 by five young nature nerds intent on inspiring young people to get involved in tackling the nature and climate crisis head on. Together with the National Trust, who have been caring for the nation’s most beloved landscapes for more than 130 years,…

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New micropropagation lab is the ‘missing part of the picture’ for the National Trust’s pioneering Plant Conservation Centre

Stuart Mitchell

The National Trust has opened its first micropropagation lab, enabling the conservation charity to micropropagate its own plant material for the first time in its history. The lab is located at the Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre (PCC) in Devon, a purpose-built facility using specialist propagation skills to conserve rare and historically important plants for National Trust gardens. It has made headlines in recent years for its successful propagation of seeds gathered in the aftermath of the illegal felling of the Sycamore Gap tree in 2023. The project was made possible…

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