From small beginnings to more than 25,000 members

From very small beginnings 50 years ago we have grown to become the largest nature conservation body in the county and with your help have made notable progress in safeguarding Dorset’s wildlife and wild places. In March 1961 we formed with just 306 founder members and it was another year before we leased our first nature reserve.

Today we are directly supported by 3.5% of the county’s population and manage 42 sites, mainly owned by us, representing over 1300 hectares of the most important wildlife havens.

Read more about the last 50 years of protecting Dorset's wildlife

Join in with our Celebratory Events

By way of a thank you to our many supporters, and to celebrate this significant milestone in our history, we will soon announce a number of golden jubilee events. If you would like to receive early information about these please signup to be kept informed

Going for Gold Concert The grand finale of our celebrations will be a concert in aid of DWT by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on Saturday 3rd December 2011 at the Lighthouse in Poole, to be conducted by patron Sir John Eliot Gardiner. To buy your tickets click here

Take-up the Dorset Wildlife Fund £50 challenge!

To help us meet our conservation objectives in the next 50 years we have created the Dorset Wildlife Fund, to provide emergency and long term financial support for particular aspects of our work: land purchase, development of educational facilities, nature reserve management and for nature-restoration projects. We would be delighted if you would help us mark 50 years work in Dorset and establish the Dorset Wildlife Fund.

We are challenging our supporters to each raise an additional £50 for the new Dorset Wildlife Fund during the year. Just £50 in 12 months; but it will make a huge difference to DWT. Take part in the £50 challenge here

42toDO... how many can you visit?

As a bit of fun and to encourage people to enjoy our fabulous nature reserves, we've set a challenge to see how many you can visit during 2011. There are prizes for the first 3 people to get round all 42 sites and an enamel DWT badge for everyone who visits at least half of our  reserves. More about 42toDo