Shropshire Wildlife Trust

Template:Short description Template:Third-party Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox organization The Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) is a wildlife trust covering the geographic county of Shropshire, England.

Nature reserves

The trust manages 42 nature reserves (plus its headquarters in Shrewsbury – see next section) in the county:

North Shropshire	Central and South Shropshire
Birch Road Pond, near Ellesmere Bwlytai Wood, near Oswestry Craig Sychtyn, near Llynclys Dolgoch Quarry, near Llynclys Greenfields, near Whitchurch Jones' Rough, near Llanymynech Llanymynech Rocks Llynclys Common Melverley Meadows, near Ash Magna Prees Branch Canal Quarry Wood Ruewood, near Wem Sweeney Fen, near Llynclys Wem Moss Wood Lane, near Wem	Betchcott Hill Brook Vessons Earl's Hill, near Pontesbury Holly Banks, near Melverley Hope Valley, near Minsterley Granville Country Park, in Telford Nipstone (Stiperstones) The Ercall The Hollies Catherton Common Clunton Coppice Comley Quarry, near Church Stretton Cramer Gutter Harton Hollow Lower Shortditch Turbary (Clun Forest) Lurkenhope Wood Rhos Fiddle Whitcliffe Common, Ludford

A former quarry at The Ercall

Headquarters

The Trust has its main offices and visitor centre at 193 Abbey Foregate near the centre of Shrewsbury – they occupy the former "Shrewsbury Quest" museum, on the corner of Abbey Foregate and Old Potts Way, opposite The Abbey church. The site encompasses a restored medieval building known as the Old Infirmary and a 1730s building called Queen Anne House, as well as gardens, including a herb garden established when the site was the Shrewsbury Quest, and a fruit tree garden. The centre and its gardens is open to the public (usually Monday – Saturday) and has a shop as well as conference rooms available for hire. Many Trust-run events take place here, including children's events during the summer holidays. Every year the centre receives approximately 25,000 visitors.

Local branches

The Trust currently has 10 local branches active in the county:

• Bridgnorth
• Clun and Bishop's Castle
• Ellesmere
• Ludlow
• Market Drayton
• Newport
• Oswestry
• Shrewsbury
• Strettons, The
• Whitchurch

Additionally, in the Telford area the Trust has helped establish the "Telford and Wrekin Forest" initiative, and has "Wrekin Forest Volunteers".

Specialist groups

The county has a wide range of specialist groups, which are associated with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, including:

• Border Bryologists
• Butterfly Conservation West Midlands
• Shropshire Amphibian and Reptile Group
• Shropshire Badger Group
• Shropshire Barn Owl Group
• Shropshire Bat Group
• Shropshire Botanical Society
• Shropshire Fungus Group
• Shropshire Invertebrate Group
• Shropshire Mammal Group
• Shropshire Moth Group
• Shropshire Ornithological Society
• Shropshire Raven Study Group

Membership

The Shropshire Wildlife Trust's membership is around 9,000 individuals<ref name=eleven/> This equates to roughly 2.2%, or 1 in 50 Shropshire residents. In addition to the membership of individuals, there are also corporate memberships, mainly of organisations (almost all private businesses) based in Shropshire, including Müller Dairy (UK), E.ON UK and Harper Adams University.<ref name=eleven/>

See also

• Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts
• List of Conservation topics
• Conservation in the United Kingdom

External links

• Shropshire Wildlife Trust website
  • Telford and Wrekin Forest initiative