1. Pine Marten
Recovery Project
Restoring the pine marten to England and Wales
What do we need and why?
The pine marten, a cat-sized native British
mammal, needs help to prevent its extinction
in England and Wales. The Vincent Wildlife
Trust is embarking on an exciting and widely
supported six-year project to bring back
pine martens to our woodlands. The project
needs to raise £800,000 to cover the period
2015 - 2020.
Our priority aim is to translocate pine martens
to the best possible habitat in England and
Wales, in order to boost the population and
help it to recover in southern Britain.
Our approach is scientifically robust, with the
support of numerous authorities and expert
stakeholders, and we have the welfare and
health of the martens very firmly in our sights.
Others may attempt translocations, but whilst
they may have worthy aims, their projects may
not be adequately resourced. For successful
translocations we will need authorisation,
proper planning, stakeholder support and the
attention to detail that will ensure the best
chances of delivering viable populations of
martens in places where they will be welcomed.
VWT is very well-positioned to deliver on all
these aspects of the project.
Why is the pine marten important?
The pine marten is a native British species
that was reduced to perilously low numbers
by the 1920s, due initially to woodland
habitat loss over many centuries and
compounded by the extensive control of
predators in the 19th
century. The pine
marten has been protected by law since
1988. In the NERC Act of 2006, the pine
marten is a species of principal importance,
recovering in Scotland but near to extinction
in England and Wales. The race is on to
save this species in its former strongholds.
© A.Achterberg
© Terry Whittaker
Your support is crucial

2. What are we doing about this?
The VWT is playing a key leadership role
in designing and taking forward a recovery
strategy for England and Wales. We have
carried out a feasibility study in liaison with
key stakeholders to identify suitable areas for
release. We are applying for the appropriate
licences to acquire and translocate pine
martens from Scotland for release in mid Wales
in the autumn of 2015 and 2016. Capture and
release of animals will follow internationally
approved IUCN guidelines for translocations
and post-release monitoring.
A combination of habitat and prey availability,
ground-truthing and stakeholder/landholder
engagement is being carried out to help finalise
exact release site locations and provide
baseline data. Please see our Feasibility
Report for further details.
What we would like you to consider
funding
Overall costs for a pine marten translocation
project are estimated to be £1.2 million over
the next six years. We are able to allocate a
third of this, some £400,000, from our own
funds; so for every pound we invest we are
looking to lever another £2 from external
sources. The fundraising requirement will
therefore be £800,000 or some £134,000
per year.
Major funding partners are expected to
contribute in the region of £100,000.
Fundraising approaches will be made to
individuals, charitable trusts and companies
for the majority of the fundraising requirement,
with any balance being made up by public
appeals and donations.
Funding will play a significant part in helping
a popular species recovery project to succeed,
and as a result we will move a step closer to
pine martens once again breeding successfully
in Wales and England.
© A.Achterberg

3. Why support us?
We are different to other wildlife conservation
organisations. We focus on a few mammal
species native to Britain and Ireland with
unknown or exacting ecological needs, and
have long-term expertise in working with these
animals. Our niche approach enables us to carry
out specialist work; in particular on specific bat
species and members of the weasel family. In
2015, the Trust celebrates its 40th
anniversary.
Further information on our work is available
at www.vwt.org.uk
We liken ourselves to a ‘Development
Department’ of the mammal conservation
sector in Britain and Ireland. Without our
involvement, there would have been a slower
response, with possibly disastrous consequences,
to the decline in our otter and water vole
numbers as they both headed towards a
population crash in the second half of the 20th
century. Thanks to our Founder’s foresight and
commitment, we now have a legacy of some
40 thriving horseshoe bat roosts designed by
VWT staff, and which are now flagships for the
management of these once rare and vulnerable
bat species. Our persistent, practical efforts
to detect and understand the needs of the pine
marten in England and Wales, have led to the
current Pine Marten Recovery Project.
The Vincent Wildlife Trust, as the UK’s
leading champion for the pine marten, is the
best placed organisation to deliver a recovery
project, having over 30 years of practical
experience with and knowledge of this species.
We are a niche, national organisation
with an annual income of less than £1M
and although we are small, with only
eight core staff, our reach and contacts
network for our pine marten work
extends across Britain and Ireland.
Our species recovery project will be
hands-on and the first step towards
bringing back a thriving pine marten
population. This can bring lasting
benefits to the natural heritage of
woodland ecosystems and it is hoped
martens will bring additional benefits,
including more opportunities for people
to see this wonderful animal in its
natural habitat (through viewing hides
for example - as in Scotland), volunteer
training (to monitor the animals) and
education opportunities. It is also
possible that pine martens can reduce
grey squirrel populations, leading to
fewer damaged trees and better
chances of recovery for our native
red squirrel.
The project is not a one-off hit, it is
a lasting programme that will not only
return a native species to its natural
habitat but generate partnerships with
woodland habitat initiatives, red and
grey squirrel initiatives and eco-tourism
initiatives such as ‘Wild days Out’ in
Wales. The results of the feasibility
study indicate that the best places to
release martens are in Wales. If the
Wales translocations are deemed a
success, the focus will turn to those
parts of England where habitat is
suitable.

4. © The Vincent Wildlife Trust 2015
www.vwt.org.uk
Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, Company Registered in England No.05598716
Charity Nos. 1112100 (England), SC043066 (Scotland), DCHY00019 (Ireland)
Notes to Annual Accounts:
Our Investment portfolio of some £16 million provides income to support on-going core costs of the
Trust’s charitable activities. Trustees have agreed a policy which allows for this fund to grow in line
with inflation to support future core running costs and to lever external funds for specific projects.
The income we achieve each year from the investment portfolio varies according to the state of the
investment markets. We therefore have a cash reserves policy which ensures that in the good years,
funds are set aside which are then available to help with cash-flow in more difficult years.
Contact us
Natalie Buttriss, Chief Executive
Mobile: 07964 353871 | Email: nataliebuttriss@vwt.org.uk
Matthew Norman, Trustee
Mobile: 07788 585451 | Email: matthew.n@familyofficecouncil.com
Address: 3 & 4 Bronsil Courtyard, Eastnor, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 1EP
Tel: 01531 636441
Visit our website for more information: www.pine-marten-recovery-project.org.uk
© A.Achterberg