The RSPB is continuing to utilise is brand licensing programme to champion the UK’s wildlife and draw greater attention to the crisis that the country’s biodiversity now faces through its most recent swathe of product partnerships.
Among the wildlife charity’s current focuses is its ongoing Help our Hedgerows campaign, an initiative to safeguard and revive hedgerows across England. These hedgerows form a vital habitat and support some 130 priority species in included within the England Biodiversity Action Plan.
England’s hedgerows therefore have a crucial role to play in the country’s ecosystem of biodiversity.
However, regulations that once stood to protect farmland hedgerows from being cut down during nesting season have now been removed by government, thereby putting our wildlife at risk.
While the RSPB is calling for the government to act now to put new regulations in place that will protect the country’s hedgerows, so too is the licensing division calling on its licensing partners and potential partnerships to consider the campaign a focus area for product and design development.
Already the charity has launched collections developed to raise awareness of the issue, including its Beyond the Hedgerow range from Otter House and its Bare Root Hedging collection of RSPB-bird friendly shrubs from Best 4 Hedging.
“There are opportunities for our licensees to tie into this focus area with their products,” said Louisa Skevington, licensing manager at the RSPB.
Meanwhile, and in an extension of the RSPB’s three year strategic partnership with the Co-op – a partnership which focuses on the ongoing restoration and long-term management of peatland across Wales and Scotland – the charity’s commercial division has been working with Co-op’s team on a new range of greetings cards, showcasing the work of photographer, Ben Pulletz.
“The new collection, depicting the UK’s flora, mammals and insects, as well as birds act to reflect the breadth of nature looked after by the RSPB,” says Louisa. “They will be available in around 1,000 Co-op stores this April and will generate significant funds for the RSPB’s cause.”
Finally, the charity is now preparing for the launch of a new collaboration with the sustainable sunglasses brand, Bird Eyewear and its unique, new RSPB frames inspired by the aerial silhouette of the Swift, a species now greatly under threat here in the UK.
Bird Eyewear’s The Swift is launching in three colours, inspired by the bird’s own plumage, pattern, and the habitats crossed on their migratory journey. Each pair in the collection will be made from plant-based bio-acetate and packaged alongside a cork case and Swift-print cleaning cloth. “This is another great brand fit for the RSPB and we are excited to see how swiftly this partnership develops,” said Louisa.