Carbon Reduction and Sustainability

In 2022, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust recruited a Carbon Reduction Champion in a role shared with Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy. During the first stage of this project, the focus is on completing Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s annual carbon emissions using The Wildlife Trusts Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool, identifying opportunities for the Trust to reduce carbon emissions and reviewing the Carbon Reduction Strategy and Action Plan.

The Trust recognises the threat to wildlife and people from climate change and is committed to being net carbon positive. This means minimising our emissions and optimising the carbon stored, captured and sequestered through land management of our nature reserves. 

Our calculations show that we continue to capture and store more carbon than we emit. Accurate measurement is difficult and our calculations are based on the best available information. Each year, additional indirect sources of carbon emissions (known as Scope 3) have been included in the calculations. Even with these additions, during 2021-22 we calculate that the Trust has removed 1,784 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO₂e).

This was a significant increase compared to previous years, largely due to using improved data to calculate carbon exchanged on our nature reserves, but also in part thanks to the creation/extension of wet grassland nature reserves at Upper Minety Meadows and Bay Meadows, enabling us to capture more carbon year-on-year.

Emissions from conservation grazing livestock made up the majority of the Trust’s carbon emissions: 65%. However these were down on previous years due to a reduced number of animals and more accurate categorisation. Questions have also been raised about whether the metrics widely used to convert methane emissions from livestock to carbon exaggerates their impact.

Other emissions have increased compared to last year. This is partly due to including more items within our Scope 3 calculations, but also because of the increased work carried out by the Trust. Wiltshire is a large county, therefore travel made up 26% while energy use was 7% of our emissions.

The Wildlife Trusts’ Greenhouse Gas Inventory Tool has been used to calculate a figure for carbon emissions from operations. This tool uses the UK Government’s ‘conversion factors’ to calculate emissions, which are updated each year to reflect changes; for example, the 2021 update decreased the CO2e factor for electricity by 9% due to an increase in renewable electricity generation and a reduction in coal use in the UK. 

To give an overall ‘Carbon Footprint’ for 2021-22, we calculated the carbon capture and sequestration rates that best matched the different habitats and management of our nature reserves, using a variety of sources and the lower rates where a range were identified for similar habitats.

Resources included in this calculation are fossil fuels used in hand tools, small machinery and fleet vehicles, and electricity usage. Emissions from the following are also included: livestock, waste and recycling, water used and sewerage at sites without treatment facilities, staff travel, commuting and working from home, volunteer travel, transmission and distribution of grid electricity and emissions which come from extracting, refining and transporting fossil fuel before we use it.

Annual action plans will enable us to identify opportunities to reduce our carbon emissions further in key areas, and our staff and volunteer Sustainability & Carbon Reduction Group is helping to deliver these plans. The working group is aligned to the Sustainability, Education and Wellbeing Committee and supports implementation of the Trust’s Carbon Reduction Strategy.

Our Carbon Reduction Champion also supports the Wiltshire Real Nappy Network and Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy’s Community Fund.

A national project by The Wildlife Trusts is underway to assess the carbon captured and sequestered by Trusts’ conservation, land management work and farming practices.  

Find out more

Read more on our Team Wilder pages and if you would like to get in touch please email JessicaT@wiltshirewildlife.org