Wildlife enquiries

Sussex Wildlife Trust do not offer a surveying service. If you would like to hire an ecologist to conduct a survey, you can find one at CIEEM. If you are looking for habitat advice, and your land sits within one of our Wilder Horsham District or Wilder Ouse project areas, please get in touch with one of the teams for more information.

As a wildlife conservation charity, Sussex Wildlife Trust celebrate wildlife in our gardens, green spaces, and urban areas. We do not offer a service to remove or relocate wildlife from one area to another. 

You can comment upon open planning applications via your local authority online planning portal. You may need a planning reference number – this should be on any paperwork regarding the proposed development, like planning notices put up on site. 

Recording wildlife sightings is a great way to ensure the wildlife you want protected on site is officially logged. You can record any species seen on site by downloading the iRecord app or going to the website. This information is shared with the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre who hold species data for the county.

Find out more ways to protect your local area 

If you witness a wildlife crime follow the steps outlined here. Sussex Wildlife Trust can only report wildlife crimes that we have witnessed ourselves and/or which have taken place on our reserves. If you witness a wildlife crime on one of our reserves, please follow the steps above before contacting us to inform us.  

Firstly, look at our identification pages to confirm if it was an Asian Hornet. Most sightings we are alerted to turn out to be our native European Hornets, which are a valuable part of the ecosystem and not a concern.  

If you confirm that you have seen an Asian Hornet, sightings should be reported by downloading the Asian Hornet Watch app, or online here: Non-native Alert – Asian Hornet and by iRecord.  

Diseases that affect garden birds are spread when feeding sites are contaminated with the droppings or saliva of infected birds. The risk increases when many birds feed at the same places day after day for long periods. To minimise the risks of disease:

• Use several feeding sites around the garden to reduce bird numbers at any one place
• Rotate between feeding sites, so not all are in constant use
• Only fill up feeders with as much food as the birds take. Don’t leave food hanging around in feeders for days to go mouldy
• Clear up any food that is left under feeders at the end of the day
• Clean feeders/feeding sites regularly using warm soapy water or 5% disinfectant, especially in the months between January and May. Make sure to rinse any disinfectant off thoroughly and always allow feeders to air-dry completely before adding food
• Maintain careful personal hygiene. Brushes and equipment used to clean feeders, tables and baths shouldn’t be used for other purposes. Rubber gloves should be worn and hands washed afterwards

Sussex Wildlife Trust does not run a wildlife rescue service, neither are we veterinary trained, so we do not answer queries on or offer practical help with injured wildlife or rescue situations. If you have found an injured animal in need of rescue in Sussex, please contact a local rescue organisation.

The best way to record wildlife sightings with us is via iRecord. Information uploaded here is shared with the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre, who hold species data for the county, and who we work closely with.  

More on how to share what you find