What is the Heather Trust?

The Heather Trust is a charity  that promotes moorland management across the whole of the UK. The Trust is not a conservation body; it encourages sound management and seeks to apply science to develop and / or promote appropriate management techniques. The Trust deals with practical issues and often finds itself working between groups with different objectives, but with a common interest in moorland.

Why is the Trust important?

The areas of well managed moorland and of heather are decreasing in parallel. Across the whole of Scotland between the 1940s and the 1980s the loss of heather moorland was 23%, but this figure was much higher in some areas. In Scotland the rate of heather loss is thought to be about 0.5% each year. The losses in other parts of the UK are at a similar level, and there is no sign that the rate of loss is decreasing. The Trust was established to promote good management of moorland and to consider all the many varied interests in moorland, not to focus on single issues.

The Trust believes that:

• Farming is vitally important for the future of heather moorland;
• Shooting provides the financial driver for moorland management in many areas;
• Conservation issues must be integrated into the management of moorland;
• Predator control must be carried out effectively to protect ground nesting birds; and
• Recreational and landscape issues are important.
  

How is the Trust funded?

The Trust is a membership organization and funding obtained from subscriptions is supplemented by the annual Sporting Sale, income from advisory work and payment for work carried out under contract. The Trust receives significant donations each year from a wide variety of donors.

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