Generous donors have pledged to match every donation made to the charity’s Nature Recovery Fund between the 18-25 March.
In a boost to the trust’s three-year fundraising appeal, the match fund week will help to raise a further £100,000 for conservation work across the three counties such as restoring streams and rivers and campaigning for their better protection. Healthy waterways should be the beating pulse of our region, supporting the needs of our society and our wildlife. However, increasing levels of contamination and pollution have left these water-worlds sick. BBOWT is working tirelessly to change this, but they can’t do it alone. This week, gifts will be more meaningful than ever because anyone who chooses to give will see their impact doubled.
BBOWT’s Chief Executive, Estelle Bailey, said:
“I’m incredibly grateful to the generous individuals who are matching all gifts this week to the Nature Recovery Fund, allowing supporters to double their impact for local wildlife. As a grassroots organisation, our dedicated teams rely on the generosity of our supporters to carry out their vital work. From helping to manage habitats to make them more resilient to climate change, to working with local communities to create more nature everywhere, for everyone, contributions to the Nature Recovery Fund mean we can continue to advocate for our invaluable natural world and help bring nature back before it’s too late.”
BBOWT launched its £3 million Nature Recovery Fund in October 2023 following the publication of the State of Nature 2023 report. The report highlighted the rapid decline of UK wildlife, with one in six British species at risk of extinction. All proceeds raised from donations to the fund will support BBOWT’s innovative projects for nature, climate and people, including their river work which aims to cleanup waterways and secure a future for endangered wildlife across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
BBOWT’s Land Management Director, Steve Proud, said:
“Our streams, rivers and brooks should be clean and flourishing with life, but many are dying, choked with pollution, sewage, and chemicals from treatment plants and harmful development. In some instances, they are even running dry from excessive abstraction. The waterways across our three counties contain an amazing variety of wildlife from kingfishers and herons to stickleback and pike, otters and water voles. These species make up the ecosystems we depend on, and we cannot afford to lose them. Their future is our future, and now is the time to act.”
Examples of BBOWT’s work which is made possible thanks to the support of donors includes:
-
Campaigns to achieve better protection of chalk streams. Despite being one of the rarest habitats on Earth, only 11 out of the 220 British chalk streams have any legal protection.
-
Restoration along stretches of waterways such as the Letcombe Brook, which runs through Letcombe Valley nature reserve.
-
Projects, such as their long-running water vole recovery project, which monitor and restore habitats for water wildlife.
-
Building more opportunities to volunteer, and inspiring people to act for nature so that the impact of all their conservation work across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire can grow.
BBOWT’s Head of Philanthropy, Laura Pepper, said:
“No gift is too small. If you’re considering giving to a good cause, Match Fund week is the time to do so. Your generosity will help to turn the tide on our rivers and our natural world so that we can see our landscapes flowing with life once again, now and for future generations.”
For more information on the Trust’s Match Fund Appeal and its Nature Recovery Fund, or to learn more about BBOWT’s work, visit bbowt.org.uk/match-fund.
