Press release

Go wild for wildlife!

Volunteers from Defra’s helpline (outsourced to Vertex Data Science Ltd, based in Merseyside), as well as the Environment Agency and RPA / BCMS…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Volunteers from Defra’s helpline (outsourced to Vertex Data Science Ltd, based in Merseyside), as well as the Environment Agency and RPA / BCMS helplines, will be taking donations this Sunday during a live BBC telethon raising funds for the BBC Wildlife Fund. It’s the last in a series of events and activities planned to raise money for wildlife conservation projects around the world as part of the BBC’s ‘2010 Wild Season’ with guests joining the Springwatch team to include Sir David Attenborough and Graham Norton.

The ‘Wild Night In’ telethon will be broadcast between 8pm and 10pm on BBC2. This year the BBC’s campaign themes support the International Year of Biodiversity; saving our species; conserving, restoring and creating wildlife homes and engaging people in the conservation of their own wildlife.

Since 2007, the BBC Wildlife Fund has supported over 47 projects, providing grants to help threatened wildlife species in the UK and across the globe.

UK supported projects supported so far have included funding the Sussex Wildlife Trust to restore the habitat of the Adonis Blue Butterfly; money to support the RSPB’s reintroduction of the cirl bunting to Cornwall and aid to the Bat Conservation Trust to help them carry out an innovative new survey technique for the Bechstein’s bat - one of the UK’s rarest mammals - to help them understand how we can manage woodlands to protect the species.

Internationally, the fund has been used to help the Tusk Trust to conserve the Namibian elephant, securing a vital corridor, allowing them to move between protected reserves, safe from harassment by people and poachers. Ethiopian wolves have been protected from a rabies outbreak by funding prevention vaccinations.

Find out more ideas for fundraising activities to take part in and learn more about how the fund has aided wildlife projects both in the UK and abroad, by following the links below.

Further information

Published 16 June 2010