As we look back on the past twelve months, we’re proud to share five key success stories, all of which are only possible when people come together for wildlife!
Celebrating 2025: Our top 5 moments for nature in Somerset
2025 has been a landmark year for wildlife in Somerset, full of extraordinary firsts, major project milestones, inspiring community action, and big steps forward for nature’s recovery. None of this would have been possible without our brilliant members, volunteers, partners, and supporters across the county.
Pine marten. Image: Terry Whittaker
1. Pine Martens return to Somerset - and we have kits!
This autumn, we witnessed something truly historic: pine martens have officially returned to Somerset, with 19 animals released across Exmoor National Park as part of the Two Moors Pine Marten Project. This marks the first licensed reintroduction of the species here in over a century - a milestone seven years in the making, delivered in partnership with Devon Wildlife Trust, Exmoor National Park Authority, the National Trust, Forestry England, Woodland Trust and others.
Quietly released at carefully chosen woodland sites after long-distance transport from Scotland, the pine martens slipped back into the Exmoor night, with magical moments captured on remote cameras.
The good news doesn’t stop there...On Dartmoor, where 15 pine martens were released last year, the first wild pine marten kits have been born - the first in the South West in more than a hundred years! As populations on Dartmoor and Exmoor expand, they will eventually meet in the middle, helping restore the ecological balance of our woodlands.
Our Pine Marten Engagement Officer, Lucy Bennett, has been working with communities, landowners, and volunteers across Somerset to help ensure this native mammal thrives once again. This is nature recovery in real time, and it is incredibly exciting!
2. Peatland restoration complete at Westhay Moor
After 18 months of complex engineering work, we are thrilled to announce the completion of our peatland restoration project on Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve - a major milestone for the Somerset Peatland Partnership and a huge step forward for climate action in the county.
Working with specialist contractors, we restored 24 hectares of degraded peat soils using deep-trench cell bunding - a pioneering technique that slows water movement underground, rehydrates peat, and helps lock carbon safely in the ground.
Already, we are seeing the landscape respond:
- Lapwing have been nesting on newly restored areas
- Sphagnum moss is returning to parts of the reserve where it hasn’t been recorded before
- Rare species like large marsh grasshopper and sundew are expected to benefit
This work is helping revive one of the largest remnants of lowland raised bog in the South West, making it more resilient to climate change while restoring vital habitat for specialist wildlife.
Our monitoring team, staff and volunteers will now track the site’s recovery over the coming years, watching as the peatland slowly comes back to life!
3. Launch of the Somerset Wildlife Trust Research Prospectus
This year we proudly launched our first ever Research Prospectus, an innovative new initiative designed to connect researchers with real-world conservation needs across the county.
The online portal showcases a wide range of priority research questions proposed by our staff - from understanding how beaver wetlands influence invasive plant species, to studying the impact of ash dieback on invertebrates, to quantifying the carbon footprint of conservation grazing.
The Prospectus opens the door to undergraduate students, postgraduates, academics, practitioners, and specialists across disciplines. We offer access to field sites, datasets, staff expertise, and community networks, helping ensure research leads to meaningful, evidence-based action on the ground.
As one of our research partners, Fin Ring-Hrubesh of the University of Bristol, put it: “Working with the Somerset Wildlife Trust team has provided a unique opportunity to conduct research in a real-world restoration setting. Collaborating with them has also made it possible to link academic research with practical land management, allowing us to test scientific questions that are directly relevant to restoration outcomes.”
This Prospectus is the start of a more collaborative, more informed, and more impactful era of nature recovery in Somerset.
4. Celebrating our first ever Wilder Community Award
2025 saw us celebrate a joyful first: the awarding of our very first Wilder Community Award, presented to the wonderfully committed village of Enmore, near Bridgwater.
More than a quarter of local households have now earned individual Wilder Gardening Awards, from wildlife-friendly gardens to wildflower patches, bat surveys, bug homes, and bird-supporting habitats. Their collective effort has transformed the village into a vibrant, joined-up haven for nature.
We celebrated the award at Enmore Village Hall, gifting the community a spindle tree as a symbol of their dedication to wildlife and their leadership in creating a Somerset where nature can thrive.
The Wilder Community Award recognises the power of local action - parks, gardens, allotments, churchyards, and green corners all joining together to form a patchwork of recovery.
Enmore has set the bar high, and we can’t wait to see which communities follow next!
Nick Upton
5. Our first Beaver Management Plan for Somerset
After 400 years of absence, beavers are back in Somerset, and their return brings enormous environmental benefits, as well as some challenges that require thoughtful, informed management.
This year, we produced Somerset’s first Beaver Management Strategy, commissioned by FWAG-SW and funded by the Somerset Rivers Authority. The guide aims to help landowners, communities, and local authorities understand:
- How to live alongside beavers
- How to access advice and support
- How to benefit from the wildlife and water-management advantages they bring
- What best-practice management looks like, based on national experience and international research
Beavers are extraordinary ecosystem engineers (natural flood managers, water purifiers, wetland creators to name a few), but they can also affect infrastructure, farmland, and drainage systems. This strategy sets out how Somerset can prepare, adapt, and thrive with beavers as part of our landscape again.
The finalised strategy will be released this winter, marking an essential step in ensuring beavers remain a positive, resilient part of Somerset’s future.
2025 has been a year to remember. Every milestone has been made possible by the passion, dedication, and teamwork of our members, volunteers, partners, and communities. Thank you for being at the heart of Somerset’s nature recovery - here’s to even more wildlife wins and shared successes in the year ahead!