The Simon King Wildlife Project aims to restore, educate and engage. Restore areas of impoverished land so that it can harmoniously support wildlife and human beings alike; educate using a variety of resources; engage more people in the fundamental beauty and necessity of a healthy wild world.
Here you will find access to our expanding network of live cameras that reveal how interventions can directly help wildlife. There is a resource of free downloadable PDFs to help engage younger audiences in the marvels of nature. We also offer online films and written projects that can help you to help the wildlife on your doorstep and beyond.
Hello, and welcome to the Simon King Wildlife Project, a charity whose goals are to restore land ravaged by human actions back to a natural harmonious balance; to provide information that helps each and every one of us to understand how our own actions can effect positive change for the planet as a whole; and to help engage everyone in the magic that is the natural world; the life support system upon which we all depend.
The catalyst that kick started the Project was my own stewardship (I loathe the word ‘ownership’ when associated with land) of a ten acre plot in Somerset. When we first took stewardship, this patch of impoverished farmland was largely grassland managed for solely for grazing at the exclusion of most wildlife.
We privately set about radically changing this patch (known as Wild Meadows), planting over 10,000 native trees, propagating wildflower meadows, nurturing rough grassland and creating a lake
Wild Meadows Restoration
All of this was done using our own resources, but we wanted to show the world just what could happen when such changes are made to land and so also (using our own resources) installed a state of the art CCTV system over the entire area. This allowed us to live stream images of the wildlife that recolonised the area over our website. It was then that the SKWP charity was born. Rather than charge people a joining fee or subscription to view the camera output, or to clutter the cameras output with advertising, we decided to make it free of charge and so available to everyone, anywhere. In addition to this we created worksheets and downloadable information packs, again free of charge, to encourage as wide an audience as possible, especially a younger audience, to engage in the wonders the natural world has to offer.
Camera Favourites
For several years we managed to maintain the camera network from Wild Meadows and an urban garden in London which watched a fox family amongst other things.
From Wild Meadows alone we were able to line stream images of otters, kingfishers, badgers and foxes, nesting tawny owls and kestrels amongst many others.
The changes on the land in Somerset serve as an exemplar of what can happen if you give the natural world a bit of a leg up.
Since that time we have moved on. Our camera network at Wild Meadows has been decommissioned, in part due to the unsustainably high line rental charges made by the telecoms companies, and also due to personal circumstances leading to my no longer spending significant time there.
The charity’s aims and ambitions remain very much the same however. To this end we now live stream a camera from the Wildlife World headquarters in Gloucestershire and will be expanding this as bandwidth and resources allow. We continue to provide free information through this website and shall be adding to this as new material is created. On a personal level, I continue to convert patches of land which am fortunate enough to steward. Most recently I have prepared and propagated a small wildflower meadow and helped with another. The progress of these new ventures will be charted via our social media outlets and on this website also.
In the meantime I hope you continue to enjoy our bird feeder cam, that you make the most of the online resources we have offered and that you continue to do whatever you can to help the wildlife in your garden and beyond. You make the difference. Thank you.
Ways To Support Us
You can support our work in one of the following ways:
Donate Online
You can make a donation securely online using PayPal. You don’t have to register with them and can make a quick donation by choosing to donate via debit or credit card.
Donate By Text
To donate £5 please text “SKWP15 £5” or to donate £10 please text “SKWP15 £10” to 70070.
Donate By Post
If you prefer to make a donation by post you may do so by sending cheques made payable to “Simon King Wildlife Project”
Mailing address:
Simon King Wildlife Project
Unit 5
Manor House
Manor Road
Marston Trading Estate
Frome
BA11 4BN
Shop With Our Partners
By shopping with our partners you are supporting the work of the Simon King Wildlife Project. For details of our partners please visit our Partners Page.
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When you make a purchase with one of the 2,700+ participating retailers, as a thank you for shopping, the retailer provides a donation for you to give to your chosen good cause. You choose which good cause to give it to. We are one of the charities and hope you may choose us. Retailers include Amazon, John Lewis and eBay.
If your company or brand would like to become one of our partners, or if you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor of the Simon King Wildlife Project – please email: [email protected] for more information.
