Cornwall Wildlife Trust

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust (founded as the Cornwall Naturalists' Club) is a charitable organisation founded in 1962 that is concerned solely with Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It deals with the conservation and preservation of Cornwall's wildlife, geology and habitats managing over 50 nature reserves covering approximately 4,300 acres (17 km²), amongst them Looe Island. The Trust conducts both land and marine conservation programmes.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Formation	1962
Type	Registered Charity
Purpose	Conservation and Preservation
Headquarters	Truro, Cornwall
Official language	English
Parent organization	Wildlife Trusts partnership
Website	Cornwall Wildlife Trust

History

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1962 that is concerned with the conservation and preservation of Cornwall's wildlife, geology and habitats, both on land and in the marine environment.^[1] Frank Turk, Stella Turk and Jean Paton were all involved in the founding of the organisation.^[2] The Trust is part of The Wildlife Trusts partnership of 46 wildlife trusts in the United Kingdom. It works in conjunction with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust on some matters. The Trust is based at Allet near Truro in Cornwall. The headquarters and offices are adjacent to the Trust's Five Acres nature reserve. This reserve includes two ponds, as well as mixed broadleaved and conifer woodland. As of 2024^[update] the Trust's chief executive is Matt Walpole.^[3] The Trust is run by a group of elected volunteer trustees, as of 2024^[update] chaired by Oliver Blount.^[4]

Activities

The trust deals with the conservation and preservation of Cornwall's wildlife, geology and habitats, managing over 50 nature reserves covering approximately 4,300 acres (17 km²), amongst them Looe Island. Cornwall Wildlife Trust produces a thrice-yearly magazine called Wild Cornwall.^[5]

The direction and work that the Trust currently does is guided by the Cornwall Biodiversity action plan. Living Seas and Living Landscapes are two such projects. The Trust runs ERCCIS (Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly), a county wide database of sightings of animals and plants, and records of geology. It also gives planning advice (CEC - Cornwall Environmental Consultants) to land developers.^[1]

In 2024 the Trust received a National Lottery grant of £265,000, with a possible follow-up grant of £3m, allowing the Trust to launch a rewilding campaign, named the Tor to Shore project.^[3][6]

One of the ponds at Five Acres

List of reserves

1. Armstrong Wood 2. Baker's Pit 3. Beales Meadows 4. Bissoe Valley 5. Bosvenning Common 6. Cabilla and Redrice Woods 7. Caer Brân 8. Carn Moor 9. Chûn Downs 10. Churchtown Farm, near Saltash 11. Chyverton 12. Devichoys Wood, near Penryn 13. Downhill Meadow 14. River Fal—River Ruan Estuary 15. Five Acres, at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Headquarters, Allet, near Truro 16. Fox Corner, south of Truro 17. Greena Moor 18. Halbullock Moor, south of Truro 19. Hawkes Wood 20. Helman Tor (including Breney Common and Red Moor, near Lostwithiel 21. Kemyel Crease 22. Kennall Vale, at Ponsanooth, between Falmouth & Redruth 23. Lanvean Bottoms 24. Loggan's Moor, near Hayle 25. Loveny/Colliford Reservoir 26. Lower Lewdon 27. Luckett/Greenscombe Wood

28. Maer Lake 29. Nansmellyn Marsh 30. North Predannack Downs 31. Park Hoskyn - The Hayman Reserve 32. Pendarves Wood, near Camborne 33. Penlee Battery, near Kingsand 34. Phillips's Point 35. Priddacombe Downs 36. Prideaux Wood 37. Quoit Heathland 38. Redlake Cottage Meadows 39. Ropehaven Cliffs 40. Rosenannon Downs 41. St Erth Pits, at St. Erth 42. St George's Island (or Looe Island), near Looe 43. Swanvale, Falmouth 44. Sylvia's Meadow, near Callington 45. Tamar Estuary, near Saltash 46. Tincombe, near Saltash 47. Trebarwith, near Tintagel 48. Tregonetha Downs, near Goss Moor 49. Tresayes Quarry, near Roche 50. Tywardreath Marsh, near Par 51. Upton Meadow, near Bude 52. Upton Towans, near Hayle 53. Ventongimps Moor, near Zelah, Cornwall 54. Marsland Valley, north of Bude 55. Windmill Farm, on The Lizard

Five Acres Nature Reserve Lower Lewdon Nature Reserve

See also

• Cornwall portal

• Stella Turk