Enjoy this article?
Most Museums Journal content is only available to members. Join the MA to get full access to the latest thinking and trends from across the sector, case studies and best practice advice.
National Trust unveils 10-year strategy to ‘restore nature’
Charity outlines plans for coming decade as it marks 130th anniversary
The National Trust has launched a 10-year strategy to tackle the climate crisis and support biodiversity as part of an announcement marking the conservation charity’s 130th anniversary.
The organisation, which was founded in 1895, launched the plan following a public consultation that involved more than 70,000 people, including trust members, volunteers and industry partners.
National Trust director-general Hilary McGrady said: “For 130 years, the National Trust has responded to the crises and challenges of the time. Today, nature is declining before our eyes and climate change is threatening homes and habitats on a colossal scale. Meanwhile, millions of people can’t enjoy the benefits that green space and heritage bring.
“So, we will ramp up our work to restore nature, both on our own land and beyond our boundaries. We’ll work to end inequality of access to green space and cultural heritage. And we will inspire millions more people to take action to protect the things we all need to thrive.”
The trust’s plans include creating an apprenticeships scheme for 130 young people in areas including countryside management, gardening and project management. The first round of apprenticeships will open for applications in May 2025.
The organisation will also support 100 towns and cities to transform and grow green space, and help create 250,000 more hectares of nature-rich landscape. Its plans include restoring peatland, which store high levels of carbon.
Advertisement
The trust will also further develop its properties. It will open its first site in the centre of Coventry – a Grade 1-listed, 14th century former monastery Charterhouse with a walled garden.
The trust is also opening Grantham House in the centre of the town of Grantham. The 14th-century townhouse will offer a community space and cafe, as well as free access to five acres of gardens.
There will be a £17m redevelopment of Bath Assembly Rooms. And this venue will be the first host of Helios, a new artwork by artist Luke Jerram. It will open in Bath on 11 January, before touring other National Trust sites in 2025. The work is a seven-metre model of the sun, follows Jerram’s Museum of the Moon and Gaia creations.
Another project is a new partnership with mental health charity Mind that will try to address unequal access to nature and the mental health crisis.
For the first time in its 130-year history the trust is launching an ambassador programme. High-profile advocates have been recruited to use their influence and networks to promote work, raise awareness and attract support for the charity.
Among the new ambassadors are classicist author and broadcaster Mary Beard; environmentalist, author and broadcaster Mya-Rose Craig; presenter George Clarke; and historian, broadcaster and film-maker David Olusoga.
The National Trust looks after 250,000 hectares of countryside, 780 miles of coastline, 1 million collection items and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves. In 2023/24 it received 25 million visitors to its pay-for-entry sites. It currently has 5.4 million members.