VWTImpactReport28Oct2025PT - Flipbook - Page 26
Philanthropy and legacy
— Vincent Wildlife Trust as a catalyst for mammal conservation
How Vincent’s legacy has shaped conservation in Britain and Ireland
Vincent was a businessman, a highly accomplished naturalist and a philanthropist who became
one of Britain’s most remarkable conservationists. He contributed 昀椀nancially to some of Britain’s
most successful national wildlife charities, privately funded major conservation projects across
Britain and Ireland for more than 40 years, and supported many young scientists in their
academic studies.
Part of the Weir family that owned the Andrew Weir Group, a
major shipping company, Vincent sold his share of the business
in the early 1990s in order to invest both his time and substantial
wealth into wildlife conservation.
The 昀椀rst mammal to become of real concern to Vincent as it came
perilously close to extinction was the otter and for more than ten
years from 1969, Vincent meticulously studied the slow and (at that
time) mysterious decline of the otters in Norfolk and Su昀昀olk.
In 1975, Vincent Weir founded Vincent Wildlife Trust with a plan to
research the decline of the otter through the Trust’s Otter Haven
Project. Injured and orphaned otters were rehabilitated and
detailed research carried out, including extensive radio-tracking
studies and pollutant analysis. Vincent was also instrumental in the
mass distribution of free net guards, designed to prevent otters
from accidental drowning in eel nets. He also oversaw a series of
national otter surveys from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, which
was a colossal (and expensive) undertaking. In 1978, he published
his book The Otter detailing the otter’s ecology and the research
he had carried out across East Anglia. At the time of his death in
2014, the otter was found in every main river catchment in England and populations are almost
fully recovered. Vincent’s vision and determination to understand what was causing declines
and then taking appropriate action has inspired many conservation organisations, government
organisations and individuals to join in to make a di昀昀erence.
©Johnny Birks
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Vincent Wildlife Trust 50 Years Impact Report 2025
