Avon Wildlife Trust

The trust was formed in 1980, has 17,500 members, and manages 35 nature reserves, ranging from salt marshes and reedbeds to wildflower meadows and ancient woodlands, covering a total of 7 square kilometres (3 sq mi) including 12 Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The first development following the formation of the trust in 1980 was the establishment of England's first urban nature reserve at Brandon Hill, bringing hay meadows, wildlife ponds and butterfly gardens into a formal city park.

At Dolebury Warren Iron Age hillfort, special grassland and rare butterflies have been encouraged by the trust's scrub clearance work.

[6] One of these revealed the astonishingly rich flora that existed in Narroways, St Werburghs, an inner area of Bristol, and was used as part of a campaign against the use of 5 acres (20,000 m2) of the hill as a storage depot for heavy equipment and lorry access for construction of the Avon Tramway.

[7] In 1991 campaigns to save Royate Hill in Bristol from development resulted in the first compulsory purchase of a wildlife site in England.

project which will offer a variety of ways for people to get active in their own neighbourhoods through talks, walks, and events, including wildlife gardening workshops and practical volunteering work.

Once open, the plan is to use the new Bennett's Patch and White's Paddock Reserve to encourage people to create new homes for wildlife in their own gardens.