Welcome to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust

The RBST is the leading conservation charity working to restore Britain’s native livestock breeds to their rightful place in our countryside.  Our work is funded entirely by membership subscriptions, donations and legacies.

Our purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR).

• We gather and interpret information to produce population statistics for all our endangered breeds.
  
  
• We collaborate with research organisations to identify breed characteristics.
  
  
• We advise, support and work with breed societies to ensure that important bloodlines and essential genetics are identified and diversity maintained.
  
  
• We promote the value of native breeds to the public and represent their interests to government.

More funds are still needed to support the ReGENEration Appeal, launched in 2001. Among the projects is the establishment of a National Bank of Genetic Resources, in which will be stored semen, embryos and other genetic samples from all of the species we conserve to protect them from the effects of epidemics such as Foot and Mouth Disease, which inevitably will occur in the future. We are almost halfway to our target of £2.5 million needed for these projects.

To get the most from this website please view the site guide.