Matthew Roberts
Equality Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) at The Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in their daily lives, that’s why we’re committed to putting equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our movement.
There is still work to be done to enhance diversity at The Wildlife Trusts
We know that like other organisations, we have a long way to go still. All 46 Wildlife Trusts have adopted a framework called Wild About Inclusion which focuses on inspiring, empowering, and engaging people from all backgrounds, cultures, identities, and abilities to play their part in nature recovery and climate action.
The benefits of the Wild About Inclusion approach are:
- More people take action for nature: people from across society have better access to nature and more opportunities to play a part in nature’s recovery.
- Better organisational performance: diverse and inclusive organisations have increased creativity, innovation, and employee satisfaction.
- Greater support from communities: being inclusive and relevant for diverse communities attracts support from a wider range of people.
- Staff are happier and healthier: an inclusive working environment means everyone has equal opportunities to develop, progress and be recognised at work.
What are The Wildlife Trusts doing to progress?
The Wildlife Trusts are undertaking a range of different projects and training initiatives to progress equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) among sttaff networks – groups of employees that come together regularly to share experiences and support each other. This includes:
- Out for Nature for LGBTQ+ staff
- Nature for All for staff with disabilities
- Nature in Mind for staff with mental health concerns
- Next Gen Nature for young people
- Colours of Nature for people of colour
- Women in Nature
These networks were created after asking staff across The Wildlife Trusts federation what kind of network groups they would like to have. The networks exist as a place for people with similar characteristics to network, share their experiences, and support each other.
Help us improve
We want to improve our understanding of how The Wildlife Trusts can be more inclusive and accessible, and are really keen to work with organisations who aim to improve access to nature for diverse groups or are keen to improve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the conservation sector. Please get in touch with us by emailing wildaboutinclusion@wildlifetrusts.org.
Diversity Report 2023
This report gives an overview of our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) over the last three years, including key statistics and highlights. We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of The Wildlife Trusts. We want to ensure that everyone can experience the joy of wildlife in their daily lives.
London Wildlife Trust
Our Journey to Greater Ethnic Diversity
The Wildlife Trusts are making changes to our practices to increase the ethnic diversity of our staff and volunteers.
Read our Equality Statement 2022
Over the next five years, The Wildlife Trusts will:
Work to understand the current diversity of the organisation, noting areas of underrepresentation, and taking a proactive approach to ensuring The Wildlife Trusts is a diverse organisation with representation from minority groups. We will work with internal and external networks to address all areas of underrepresentation and to adopt best practice. We will be actively anti-racist and will have a suite of training materials for trustees and staff to embed EDI across the organisation and ensure each person knows their responsibility.
The Wildlife Trusts will also work towards ensuring:
- We have diverse & inclusive leadership - our movement will be led by diverse, inclusive and effective leaders who embrace the challenge of increasing our diversity and recognise the contribution diversity makes to our movement and to wildlife.
- We are increasing our diversity – we will become more relevant to more people by ensuring our staff and trustees, reflect the diversity of the communities in which we live and work, by increasing opportunities and reducing barriers for marginalised and underserved groups.
- We are cultivating an inclusive movement –we will cultivate a culture where our staff and trustees are Wild About Inclusion, where difference is celebrated, everyone can be themselves, feel respected and able to contribute to their full potential.
- We are communicating inclusively – the ways that we connect with our staff and communities will be intentionally inclusive and nurture a sense of belonging. We will demonstrate solidarity for people from different backgrounds, abilities and identities, and ensure they are empowered to change the natural world for the better.
- We provide access and engagement for everyone - We will increase our engagement with diverse communities, to better understand and overcome barriers to accessing and engaging with nature and to ensure that everyone can benefit from the joy of wildlife in their daily lives.
Jobs and Careers
The Wildlife Trusts value passion, respect, trust, integrity, pragmatic activism and strength in diversity. We are passionate in promoting our aims, and we pride ourselves on being inclusive. We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.
Wild Futures: Careers with The Wildlife Trusts
Please check back here soon for details of our next careers event. You can watch back our most recent event below.