Nature conservation is evolving from protecting the rare and exceptional to restoring the natural systems that sustain us all. It is no longer about isolated reserves; it is about making space for nature across whole landscapes, and ultimately within each of our lives. This space is vital, as nature only survives when people care, and when knowledge, action and emotion align to stand for what is essential to our lives.
We began as the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Trust, when we became the custodians of Askham Bog on the edge of York thanks to a gift from Sir Francis Terry and Arnold Rowntree. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust now looks after more than 110 nature reserves across Yorkshire, forming the foundations of our landscape-scale restoration ambitions, and we are beyond grateful to the thousands of people that support these ambitions each year.
However, despite substantial public support for action for nature, in political circles, there is view that wildlife and wild places, as well as the nature woven around our homes and communities, is a ‘nice to have’, not a necessity for our individual wellbeing and our collective prosperity. Notions of progress have separated us from a direct, living relationship with the natural world. In its place, we built a culture where success drives extraction: bigger homes, faster travel, increased and more lavish consumption.
Rather than a companion for life, nature has become a setting and a source for our demands, which have become unsustainable. A recent Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs report suggests the UK’s food system could face severe disruption within this decade. We are already beyond safe levels of planetary warming, and analysis from Green Alliance shows that climate change and nature loss are already increasing household costs—through food, water and insurance.
When facing risks, we do have choices. We can use the disruption of turbulent times to rebalance our system, to reconnect what we value to what we most need and rely upon. Reprogramming our economic system may seem an overwhelming proposition beyond what our individual actions can impact, and that is why at the Trust we have been focused on charting an achievable and impactful course for nature recovery. As recovering nature is an investment, we can all make which benefits everyone now and into the future.
In our 80th year, we are looking to the next 80 years - but starting with just the next four. Our ambition is to achieve 30% of land and sea managed for nature by 2030. It is a reachable goal, if we work together. We are seeking to build a coalition of the willing, those who are committed to accelerating nature’s recovery in Yorkshire, guided by our 30 by 30 blueprint, Bringing Yorkshire’s Nature Back, which identifies seven opportunities where collective action will make a measurable difference.
This mission is something everyone can play a part in, and we invite you to start by celebrating the glorious nature we do have in Yorkshire throughout this spring and summer at our events with us.
Please, make your care for nature more visible, in everyday conversations and when nature is being undervalued, pushed aside and damaged in your community. Demand clean water, healthy food, breathable air, access to thriving nature and careful design when development is necessary - not as privileges, but as rights for us and for future generations.
Take action where you are. Turn gardens into habitats. Take part in citizen science projects that help to protect our wild world. Support the collective effort to restore the natural systems we all depend on.
Above all, stay connected. Go outside. Notice what is still here; the colour, the movement, the life. Because that connection is not trivial. It is the foundation of everything that makes us human.
As we celebrate what has been achieved, we must also confront what is at stake. The next 80 years will not be defined by protection but by whether we are willing to transform how we live alongside the rest of life on Earth. Yorkshire can lead the way, with grit, determination and innovation.
This piece was first published by the Yorkshire Post on 14th April 2026.