Enabling Keep it Wild CIC to create an ambitious new Species Recovery Centre to collate lost and rare species into a central location, then build captive breeding knowledge and expertise to produce high volumes of these important species to restore Britain’s nature depleted landscape.

There are many exciting landscape recovery projects happening across the country, but they will not be able to reach their full vibrant potential due to several key species missing from existing ecosystems. The Species Recovery Centre seeks to breed and release lost and rare species at scale to suitable nature restoration projects across the UK.

They have already proven the model with water voles, releasing 3,000 annually to suitably restored sites. They will now expand their focus to storks, wildcats, adders, beavers, red backed shrikes, black grouse, turtle doves, glowworms, and mole crickets.

The team will build expertise in breeding, caring for, and releasing these lost and endangered UK native species. They will work with partner landowners to create satellite breeding and release facilities, to make the operation more resilient and breed the animals closer to their potential release sites.

Image credits: Keep it Wild CIC.

Project Impact: 

• Built infrastructure to house breeding birds, insects, wild cats and reptiles
• Continued releases of glowworms and beavers
• Successfully bred 15 wildcat kittens for release in 2026
• Hatched 9 white storks
• Bred 15 twites from 5 pairs
• Housed more than 200 turtle doves for release in 2025
• Constructed 3 reptiliaries and sourced 3 breeding pairs of adders
• Bred 3,000 water voles annually for release
• Hosted 3 events attended by more than 200 members of the public
• Hosted over 300 young adults from local colleges and groups

Focus Species for Breeding and Reintroductions:

• White stork (next releases expected in 2025)
• Wildcats (release in North Devon in 2026)
• Adder
• Black grouse
• Turtle Dove (establish two new breeding flocks)
• Beaver (release in Spring 2025)
• Red-backed shrikes (wild releases in 2026)
• Twite (wild releases in 2026)
• Glowworms (further releases in 2025 & 2026)
• Mole crickets (aim to have 500 by 2026)