Thank You
Habitat Appeal
Many of you have responded to this appeal. In fact you've broken all the records - more than doubling the amount
received from any previous campaign - and we've only just got started!
The Habitat Appeal was launched in October of last year to raise funds for the purchase and management of
new nature reserves. We set ourselves a target of a million pounds over the next five years. Within weeks,
members had sent in several thousand pounds; this soon swelled to over £11,000. We promised to match this
money with funds from elsewhere, multiplying it by at least ten, so you will expect us to have raised a total of at
least £110,000. Incredibly, at the time of writing our total is well over £350,000.
It is an exciting time at the Trust: for the first time ever, we are able to consider seriously the purchase of substantial areas of important wildlife habitat. There are still far more of them being offered for sale than we
could possibly afford to buy, but we are concentrating our efforts on the most threatened and important sites.
Now for the bad news: almost all of the money we've raised so far has been earmarked for two very important sites.
One of them - Cabilla Woods - we now own, and the details are written below. The other we will probably own by
the time you read this, but because nothing is guaranteed yet, I can't tell you about it. We will be running a series
of events to raise funds for the Habitat Appeal; please support them if you can, and if you haven't sent us a
donation yet, please do.
All contributions should be sent to:
Habitat Appeal, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Five Acres, Allet, Truro, TR4 9DJ.
Cabilla and Redrice Woods
Cabilla and Redrice Woods is the first purchase made possible by the Habitat Appeal. It is part of one of the largest
continuous tracts of woodland in the county, situated in the Glynn Valley, near Bodmin. The woods are rich in
wildlife but they have been neglected for many years and we have a great deal of work to do to restore their full
character and diversity.
The new reserve's southern boundary is formed by the River Fowey, and the wildlife of this stretch includes otters
and kingfishers. The Environment Agency has also made a major financial contribution to the project and we
will be working together closely to improve the environmental quality of the river and its catchmentarea.
There is so much work to be done to restore Cabilla that we have decided to place a permanent team of volunteers
on the site, led by a project manager.
You will certainly be hearing more about Cabilla in future editions of Wild Cornwall, but in the meantime why not visit the site and see for yourself how we are spending your money?
Paul Horak
Sales
Shop
The Penzance shop has had a very busy year and our new premises proved to be a blessing in disguise. In December we broke two records, both for daily and for monthly takings, plus we had the added bonus of being granted reduced, charity business rates again - this can save us several thousand pounds in a year.
From September, we will be running educational workshops in the shop on a variety of wildlife and conservation
themes, from painting and paper making to wildlife gardening and constructing bat and bird boxes. Is there a
particular course you feel we should be running? If so, please get your ideas down on paper and send them in
This is a new venture and we would welcome any new ideas.