Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust HQ, Banovallum House, Horncastle - geograph

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, (part of the Wildlife Trusts partnership), covers the whole

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was founded in 1948 as a

voluntary Voluntary may refer to: * Voluntary (music) * Voluntary or volunteer, person participating via volunteering/volunteerism * Voluntary muscle contraction See also * Voluntary action * Voluntariness, in law and philosophy * Voluntaryism Volunt ...

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

dedicated to conserving the

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

and wild places of Lincolnshire and to promoting the understanding and enjoyment of the natural world.

Description

Its headquarters are at Banovallum House, Manor House Street,

Horncastle Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...

. It has over 27,000 members and manages 95

nature reserves A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

with a total area of . These include five main visitor-focused reserves used for

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

purposes: *''

Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...

'' opened in 1949 and was the first nature reserve to be purchased by the Trust. A reserve of

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

pools situated on the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

south of

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...

. Facilities include two car parks and a visitors' centre with a cafe, shop and toilets. *'' Far Ings National Nature Reserve'' opened in 1973. A reserve of lakes,

reedbeds A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

and

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

situated in the north of the county on the south bank of the Humber Estuary west of

Barton upon Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is so ...

. Facilities provided include car parking, toilets, shop and classroom. * '' Whisby Nature Park'' opened in 1989. A reserve of lakes, meadows and immature

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

situated in the west of the county alongside the A46 Lincoln by-pass. Facilities include car parking, an education centre with a

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

and a

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

, an adventure playground for children and the 'Natural World Centre' with toilets, café, shop and temporary and permanent exhibitions. (The car parks, adventure playground and 'Natural World Centre' are managed by

North Kesteven District Council North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

). *''

Snipe Dales Snipe Dales is a country park and nature reserve in the Lincolnshire Wolds near Hagworthingham in Lincolnshire, England. The reserve is one of the few remaining examples showing the Wolds as they were. Snipe Dales comprises a raised heathland ...

Country Park & Nature Reserve'' opened in 1974. A reserve that is part wet grassland and scrub and part

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

woodland situated in the centre of the county on the B1195 Horncastle to

Spilsby Spilsby is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of Lincoln, north-east of Boston and north-west of Skegness. It ...

road. The coniferous woodland is currently being replaced by native broadleaved trees. Facilities include car parking and toilets. *'' Deeping Lakes Nature Reserve'' opened in 2004. A reserve of lakes and immature woodland situated in the south of the county on the north bank of the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...

, it is east of

Deeping St James Deeping St James is a large village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Frognall) was reported as 7,051 at the 2011 census. History Based around a now lost 12th-century Bened ...

on the B1166 road. Only car parking is provided while the site is being developed. The Trust employs 78 full and part-time staff who are aided by more than 1,300 volunteers drawn mainly from Trust's 16 area groups (''members' groups''), each of which is based on one of the county's main towns. The area groups also organise meetings, visits and social events and are involved in

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

and membership recruitment. 5,000 of the Trust's members are under 16 years of age; these are catered for by the organisation's junior wing Wildlife Watch which runs seven groups around the county organising events for children. The Trust's income is derived mainly from members' subscriptions, money raised by area groups and members, donations, grants from local authorities and government agencies (usually for ''special projects''), profits from the Trust's sales business and from

legacies In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

Sites

Key

Public access

*BPA = access only by prior arrangement with the Trust *No = no public access *Yes = public access to all or most of the site

References

External links

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust website
{{The Wildlife Trusts East Lindsey District Organisations based in Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts of England 1948 establishments in England