The awards, organised by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, were announced at the Trust’s Wilder Conference this week with nine awards given to individuals, groups and businesses working to help nature’s recovery. 

The winners were:  

• The Young Changemaker Award went to Arun Carson, aged 14, from Bransgore in the New Forest, who started volunteering with the Trust aged just nine. His love for all things marine wildlife has seen him research species and take part in intertidal surveys. 

• The Wilder School Award was given to Hounsdown Primary School in Totton whose eco-team has been leading on a range of projects including creating a wildflower meadow and planting 30 new trees. 

• The Individual Action for Nature Award went to friends Hazel Metcalfe and Sarah Smith from Whitchurch near Basingstoke. They have volunteered with the Watercress and Winterbournes project and founded the Chalk Stream Challenge badge to help youngsters connect with chalk streams. 

• The Wilder Neighbourhood Award was scooped by Wilder Bramley based just north of Basingstoke. The group has created a community bee garden, a wildflower area and the Bramley Green Grassland Restoration Project. 

• The Business of the Year Award was won by Portsmouth-based FatFace which has recently become B Corp Certified in line with its commitment to high environmental and social standards. As well as its dedication to rewilding projects, 100 per cent of its cotton is sustainably sourced and the business has been carbon neutral for the past two years.

• Innovation for Nature Award was won by Artecology on the Isle of Wight which crafts regenerative ecological environments for wildlife. Products include the Vertipool – an artificial rockpool habitat used on coastal flood defence structures. 

• Nature Recovery (Land and Sea) Award was won by The Lockerley Estate in East Tytherley near Stockbridge. Over the past eight years, the estate has transformed from a conventional arable farming system to a regenerative one, adopting techniques such as direct drilling to minimise soil damage, and drastically cutting back on fuel use; the estate has also set aside 28 hectares for wildlife through rewilding and, low intensity grazing, as well as creating wildflower meadows and restoring wood pasture.

Finally, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Trust were given to Di Mitchell, of Buriton, near Petersfield and John Ayres, from Fleet. John has volunteered for the Trust for more than 40 years as a Local Area Volunteer of the Hart and Rushmoor Group and as a Volunteer Reserve Manager with the Northern Estates Reserves Team. And Di, who has only just recently stepped down as a Volunteer Reserve Manager at Coulters Dean Nature Reserve has for the past 30 years been a champion of the Trust supporting wildlife, giving talks to the local community and keeping meticulous records of her wildlife sightings and work on the reserve. 

Presenting the awards at the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust conference at Lakeside North Harbour in Portsmouth, Trust President Megan McCubbin said: “We are delighted to celebrate the champions of nature across our communities. 

“Many people are doing remarkable work to help nature flourish and make Hampshire and Isle of Wight wilder and greener, but our winners today have gone the extra mile with their passion, creativity and unstinting hard work. 

“It is through the efforts of all our champions that nature will recover, and we can achieve our dream of a better, wilder future.” 

The conference and award ceremony were held at Lakeside North Harbour which has been working in partnership with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust working since 2015. 

The Trust ecology consultancy, Acardian, has conducted multiple surveys on the site, as well as a Wilder Portsmouth Officer and volunteer Outdoor Learning Tutor providing talks and guided walks for staff on the site. 

The site at Lakeside North Harbour provides some fantastic biodiversity, as shown in recent ecological surveys conducted at the site in 2022 where: 

• 42 species of birds were recorded during breeding bird surveys (most commonly blackbird, wren and blue tit) 

• 12 species of butterflies

• Five species of bumblebees 

• Eight species of dragonflies and damselflies  

Hannah Terrey from the Trust said: “We love our partnership with Lakeside and we would like to thank the team for enabling us to hold our conference here. It’s such a good example of how business and nature can thrive next to each other!”