Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust manages over 40 nature reserves covering nearly 810 hectares (2,000 acres) north of London, in Hertfordshire and the former county of Middlesex, which is now divided between the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon. It has over 21,000 members, and is one of 47 Wildlife Trusts across the UK. It is a Registered Charity, with its Registered Office in St Albans, and had an income in the year to 31 March 2014 of over £1.5 million.
The Trust's activities include managing nature reserves, advising landowners on how to manage their land for wildlife, commenting on planning applications, advising planning authorities and campaigning to protect wildlife. The Trust also encourages people to be active volunteers helping to maintain nature reserves.
The first preparatory meeting of what was to become the Trust was held on 16 November 1963, and the Hertfordshire & Middlesex Trust for Nature Conservation was incorporated on 9 October 1964. By 1970 it had twenty reserves and in the same year it took over management of its first Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Blagrove Common. In 1987 it changed its name to the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. In 2007 it purchased Amwell Quarry, and started restoration which has now made the site internationally important for its wetland birds.
Two of the Trust's nature reserves are Ramsar sites, internationally important wetland reserves; fifteen are SSSIs, and five are Local Nature Reserves. The first site was Fox Covert, donated by Mr Fordham of Letchworth on the Trust's foundation in 1964. The largest is King's Meads, at 96 hectares (240 acres); this is water meadows where 265 wildflower species have been recorded, and it is an important site for over-wintering stonechats. The smallest is Alpine Meadow at 0.8 hectares, which has been designated an SSSI as an example of unimproved chalk grassland.
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