A severe outbreak of the disease
strongylosis in grey partridges in 1931 led Major HG Eley (a
shotgun cartridge manufacturer) to establish the
ICI Game Research Station at
Knebworth in
Hertfordshire. The organisation began investigating partridge biology and monitoring their numbers on farms and estates across the UK in 1933 - work that continues to this day with the participation of farmers, land managers and
gamekeepers in its
Partridge Count Scheme. After World War II, Eley established a new base at Burgate Manor in
Fordingbridge,
Hampshire, forming what was later known as the Eley Game Advisory Service. They leased a local estate and for 14 years ran it as a demonstration and experimental game shoot. Much of the association's early work was on the effects of
organochlorine pesticides The results of this work helped to bring in a ban on the use of
dieldrin,
aldrin and
heptachlor seed dressings in 1962. In March 2009, due to Government funding cuts to the
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the Trust took over the running of the East Stoke Salmon & Trout Research Centre in
Dorset, as well as the three research staff being made redundant, in order to secure the continuation of the Centre's expertise and internationally important long-term data collection.
Name and organisational changes In 1969, following the withdrawal of financial assistance from ICI, and thus ending its nearly 40-year association with Eley Cartridges, it became the Game Conservancy. In April 1980, it was registered as a research and education charity under the name - Game Conservancy Trust. On 1 October 2007, after 27 years as the Game Conservancy Trust, the organisation was renamed to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, to better reflect it's broader work of also conserving "
associated flora and fauna", which can also benefit as a consequence of sympathetic game management and accompanying land management practices. ==Conservation==