The Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The Trust was originally founded in 1961 to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. The Trust is headquartered at Brooklands Farm, just north of Dorchester. DWT has 26,000 members, has some 55 staff, over 850 active volunteers, and runs 42 nature reserves totalling over 12 square kilometres, which include 23 sites of special scientific interest.
Most of the reserves are owned by the Trust, but some are also leased under agreements with landowners. The reserves represent 1,300 hectares of prime habitat managed for the benefit of wildlife and supporting local and regional biodiversity. The Trust's diverse collection of reserves reflect the natural diversity of the geologically and habitat rich southern English county of Dorset. The wide variety of landscapes includes chalk grasslands, ancient meadows, prime woodland, internationally important rare heathland, valuable wetlands, and a section of the World Heritage listed Jurassic Coast. According to the Trust, more than 200,000 visitors visit their reserves each year.
The Trust currently also has six wildlife education and outreach centres around the county (Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve, Kingcombe Meadows, Lorton Meadows, Brownsea Island, Urban Wildlife Centre, and Brooklands Farm itself).
The conservation, education, and community partnership work of the Dorset Wildlife Trust extends beyond the designated Nature Reserves. DWT also runs a series of special projects headed by conservation staff working with groups of volunteer members and supporter groups throughout the county. They are involved in monitoring and improving habitats for wildlife not only in the open countryside, rivers and coastal waters but also in urban and suburban environments, churchyards, and roadside verges.
A core aim of the Trust, in conjunction with Wildlife Trusts throughout Britain, is actively to promote and set up 'Living Landscapes', wildlife corridors, nectar-rich links, etc.
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