The UK Habitat Stamp Programme has allowed the Wildlife Habitat CharitableTrust to work in partnership with English Nature and the other statutory conservation agencies to encourage local initiatives to protect and manage important sites.

Notably this has included:

• The extension of the National Nature Reserve at Hamford Water in Essex and the Ribble Marshes in Lancashire.
• The establishment of the Lough Beg National Nature Reserve in Northern Ireland.
• The establishment of the Wigtown Bay Local Nature Reserve in Dumfries & Galloway.
• The extension of the Y Foryd Local Nature Reserve in North Wales.

The pioneering coastal realignment project at Orplands on the Blackwater estuary, Essex.

All of these sites are being managed by local shooting clubs. A wide range of wildlife benefit from WHT projects including rare plants and insects, the natterjack toad, the great crested newt, and scarce breeding brids such as the little tern and redshank.

More recently the Wildlife Habitat Trusts have provided loans and grants totalling over £600,000 to support 60 successful land acquisitions and projects by shooting and conservation groups.

• This has safeguarded shooting and conservation management in the region of 3,500 acres within prime wildlife sites.
• Collectively these projects represent an investment in conservation by shooting interests in excess of an impressive £1.4M.
• The WHTs have been instrumental in unlocking government, and other, grant aid for acquisition and management projects at both national, and perhaps more importantly, local level. This has included money from English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, local authorities, the Environment & Heritage Service in Northern Ireland, and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
• Thanks to the support of WHT, local shooting clubs now own and manage land within three National Nature Reserves and two Local Nature Reserves - the 'crown jewels' within the UK's conservation sites.
• Internationally, and uniquely in the UK, the Trusts have channelled over £56,000 into conserving important flyaway habitats, particularly in the Baltic countries.

These achievements have significantly increased the importance and reputation of sporting shooting, particularly local shooting groups, as an essential partner in conservation and land management. They give a loud and unambiguous message - shooting helps deliver conservation.