VWTImpactReport28Oct2025PT - Flipbook - Page 7
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Fifty impacts
VWT has developed
systems that exclude
owls and other
predators from
roosts whilst allowing
horseshoe bats access
and reducing the risk
of predation or roost
abandonment.
VWT’s
Bechstein’s
bat-ringing
study in Dorset
started in 1998
and is the
longest running
in Britain,
following
individual bats
throughout their
lifespan.
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VWT safeguards 25%
of Ireland’s total lesser
horsehoe bat population
in its bat reserves.
In the 1980s, VWT created
the 昀椀rst Havens to protect
habitats for otters. From the
brink of extinction in the
1970s, otters are now found
in every county in England
and Wales and throughout
their former Scottish range.
VWT carried out the 昀椀rst
pine marten translocation
in southern Britain,
to reinforce the remnant
Welsh population with 51
animals from Scotland.
Just 11 years later, pine martens
are in 21 out of 22
Welsh counties.
VWT designed, tested
and made guards for eel
fyke nets and issued them
for free, helping to stop
otters drowning in traps.
These guards are now a
legal requirement.
Since 2015, more than 100
pine martens have been
translocated from Scotland
by VWT with Forestry and
Land Scotland, and are
now thriving in Wales,
Gloucestershire and parts
of the southwest peninsula.
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VWT led the 昀椀rst study
to con昀椀rm the potential of eDNA
to detect the Critically Endangered
European mink and increase
detection of this
on-the-brink species.
VWT’s long-term
study on
Bechstein’s bats
have revealed the
record age reached
by a Bechstein’s
bat in Britain is an
18-year-old female.
VWT developed pine
marten den boxes to
provide safe denning sites
— an innovative approach
to help the species survive
and expand its range.
VWT led the 昀椀rst radio-tracking
studies on Bechstein’s bats in
Britain during the 1990s, which led
to the 昀椀rst habitat conservation
recommendations for the species.
VWT collected 600 records for the barbastelle
at 14 new sites in Pembrokeshire. These new records
will inspire conservation action to ensure this
rare species can survive.
VWT designed and installed
bat towers to provide new roosts
for lesser horseshoe bats and
increase connectivity within the
landscape in England and Ireland.
Vincent Wildlife Trust 50 Years Impact Report 2025
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