Somerset Wildlife Trust current and past projects.

Run for wildlife at what is described by event organisers as a 15 mile, off road, hilly and merciless run! Organised by Cheddar Running Club, this run will take you over 2,000 feet of hill climbing through our magnificent nature reserves – Black Rock and Velvet Bottom. This challenge is certainly not for the faint hearted! Secure your place and run for wildlife today.

Bitterns have been recorded on Somerset Wildlife Trust reserves for the past 10 years, and their numbers have been growing year on year. We're interested in finding out if the bitterns have spread out from the Somerset Levels and Moors, and if so, where they're going! This count is hosted on iNaturalist.

Despite the amazing diversity of habitats and wildlife along Somerset’s fifty miles of coastline, it often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. This vibrant piece of coastline includes sand dunes, rocky shores, cliffs, salt marsh, tidal estuaries, mud flats and coastal deciduous woodland, with 80% having environmental protection.

Our ‘Ponds Alive!’ project is an exciting community-led initiative taking place in West Somerset. Coordinated by Somerset Wildlife Trust volunteer Elizabeth Atkinson, it aims to help revitalise, enhance, and increase local freshwater habitats, while also encouraging more people to get involved in citizen science to help us learn more about West Somerset’s ponds and pond life.

Thanks to £94,000 funding from European Marine Fisheries Fund, with support from the Sustainable Eel Group (SEG), we have been working to ensure that incredible eels can continue to find safe refuge in our county’s wetland habitats during their epic journey in the future.

A project supported by the Landscape Recovery scheme - one of the Government's three new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMS).

Somerset Wildlife Trust and Wessex Water joined forces to work towards cleaner rivers and good quality habitats for wildlife. Funded by Wessex Water, the aim of the project was to recruit and train local volunteers - Water Guardians - to monitor water courses, identifying possible pollution incidents and reporting them to Wessex Water for further investigation.