RSPCA sell Land Left for Wildlife

The RSPCA has been criticised for selling a piece of woodland and house it was left by the homeowner who died and left it to them. In his will, David Brown wrote that he 'wished' for the land to be preserved as a nature reserve. He used to feed foxes and badgers on the land next to his cottage, and thought the RSPCA was the charity that would look after it after he was gone. Sadly, he chose the wrong charity. As he wrote it as a 'wish' they were legally able to ignore it, and sold the land to a developer which has now cleared it, including bulldozing 6 old Oak trees. The RSPCA raised £295,000 from the sale which they say will be put towards their animal protection work.

So David Brown who no doubt toiled for years to pay for his house and land did not get his wish. The little wildlife haven he cherished has been destroyed by the very people who he thought would help him ensure it was preserved after he was dead. So, I suppose the most important thing to ensure this does not happen again elsewhere is to ensure if you are intending to leave any land to a charity, you write the will in a way that ensures that it bullet proof so for example;

'The land should NOT be developed on, it should only be used as a nature reserve and be kept in the best condition for native wildlife.''

Perhaps something like that would stop land being sold for development. Also, choosing the right charity is important. Perhaps Mr Brown thought of the RSPCA due to it's high profile as an animal charity and thought they must be the right charity to leave the land to. However, they don't really have nature reserves and focus more on animal cruelty and pets. As he lived in Alderly Edge in Cheshire, it's possible that a better charity would have been the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, as they like all other regional Wildlife Trusts across the UK are more suited to looking after small areas of woodland, and have nature reserves in suburban areas as well as larger reserves.

If you don't live in Cheshire, you can find your local Wildlife Trust here.

For larger pieces of land you could consider the National Trust, the RSPB, or if it is a farm you could leave it to the Countryside Restoration Trust. There is also more specialist conservation charities, so for example if you have a natural meadow there is Plantlife or the Grassland Trust. If the land is home to a rare butterfly species, the Butterfly Conservation Trust might be more suitable. I suppose the most important thing is to research who might be best to leave the land to if you want it to be preserved after you have gone. You could also consider leaving them the land when you're still around to ensure it is in a safe pair of hands and also get the pleasure of seeing it being improved and maintained.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136714/Nature-lover-leaves-wildlife-haven-RSPCA--sell-bulldozed-built-on.html?ito=feeds-newsxml