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1. Plant Pots for Pollinators - help butterflies by going potty!

   Posted on 1:00pm Friday 2nd Jun 2017

   It’s great to hear about initiatives people can join in with - and better to hear that people are actually joining up and making a difference. This morning I discovered that Butterfly Conservation (who work to conserve butterflies) have an initiative called Plant Pots for Pollinators. It’s an amazing project.   Butterfly Conservation are asking people to plant a pot or pots for pollinators – butterflies and bees. Butterfly Conservation says the UK has 1,500 pollinating species – bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies, beetles, wasps, butterflies and moths.  Changes in land use and the way it’s managed are destroying vital wildlife habitat on farms, woodlands, towns and cities.  We need to look after our pollinators.    Over 80% of EU crops and 80% of wildlflowers need insect pollination.   Pollinators can only look after us, if we look after them.   And if we provide habitat for them, they will come.   The sight of colourful butterflies fluttering around your garden thanks to your efforts is a truly lovely one.   There’s something very relaxing about listening to bees buzzing around flowers.  So the more plants we pot and grow for our pollinators, the better.  There’s a planting guide with suggestions of what butterflies like The Plant Pots for Pollinators scheme is sponsored by B&Q, so watch for Butterfly Conservation events at some B&Q stores.  And you can add your pot to Butterfly Conservation’s interactive map, which shows how many people have planted a pot and where in the country that pot is.     So far, 340 plant pots have been planted.   Go potty for pollinators this summer!

    

2. It's National Tree Week - 10 things to do with trees

   Posted on 8:19pm Tuesday 22nd Nov 2016

    

   National Tree Week takes place from 26th November to 4th December in 2016.   Celebrate all things tree and branch out with these leafy activities!  National Tree Week is organised by the Tree Council - it's the largest tree celebration in the UK and it launches the start of the winter tree planting season. This is a great opportunity to do something positive for trees in your area.  10 Tree Things to Do  Send a tree through the post Yes, honestly.  There’s a tree (or a bush) for everyone even in a hallway or on a balcony.   Rather than send flowers which don’t last, send a tree or bush which will last longer.  Some trees/bushes even produce things you can eat…. Tree2mydoor.com is to trees what a florist is to flowers so this Christmas why not send a tree as a gift? Hunt for ancient trees Help the hunt for Ancient Trees and help boost the ancient tree inventory.  This is a great outdoors activity, aided by the fact you can choose the day (and weather) on which to do it.  Your family can go hunting for ancient trees and if you find one, let the Woodland Trust know about it.  It helps them lobby to protect ancient trees and care for them, and plan for their proteciton in the future.  The Woodland Trust has a leaflet for children with activities to do.  Plant a tree or join a community plant From small trees to the mighty oak, you can plant a tree in your garden or join a community project and enjoy it for years. Get your community planting trees or volunteer to help on a tree planting near you.  This is a great way to meet new people and make friends and get all earthy.  The Woodland Trust has more information on community planting Who lives in woodland and trees? Wildlife need our woodland and our trees. Discover who lives in our woodlands and trees and our forests.  The Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust both have information about who lives there.    Become a tree surgeon This could be a great career for anyone who loves the outdoors life and trees!  Tree surgeons plant, they fell, they care for and maintain trees and assess their hazards.   You can find more info at the National Careers Service website here and The Arboricultural Association has information as well. Be a tree warden for the Tree Council The Tree Warden Scheme is a national initiative to enable people to play an active role in conserving and enhancing their local trees and woods. The scheme was founded and is co-ordinated by The Tree Council.  Trees, shrubs and hedging from Suttons Seeds Plant a tree in memory  My wonderful Dad died in 2013.   Birthdays and Christmases are difficult.  I felt I wanted to mark events such as this in some way so I’ve started planting a tree in Dad’s memory for these occasions and Father’s Day.   So far, I’ve planted a tree with the Alderney Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust in Sussex and 5 trees in Ecuador with the World Land Trust, all in his name and memory.  It took a while for the idea to surface, but I do smile at the thought of trees being dedicated to Dad all over the world. I try to find a link between each tree and Dad.  He was a Winnie the Pooh fan, so I planted a tree in Sussex which is Winnie the Pooh country. Campaign for Trees The Woodland Trust campaigns for Trees – visit their website to see if there are any campaign's you could support.   Examples include being a voice for trees and woods, telling the Trust about threats to ancient woods, and taking action in your community. Find out what you can do to help  Identify trees How many of us know our oak from our beech?  The Woodland Trust has information you can use to discover which tree is which.   Visit the woods near you and enjoy them. Visit Trees for Cities Trees for Cities is working to make cities greener places in which to live and visit world wide.  There are opportunities to volunteer, either as an individual or a corporate entity.  Since 1993, over 70,000 people have planted over 600,000 urban trees in parks, streets, schools and housing estates across the UK, as well as internationally.

    

3. Help a species - Hedgehogs

   Posted on 9:43pm Sunday 23rd Aug 2015

    

    STOP the hedgehog decline

   Hedgehogs have declined in number substantially over the last few decades.   Their numbers have gone from 36 million during the 1950s down to just under one milliion in 2015.  Reasons for the decline in hedgehogs include: Loss of hedgerows and permanent grasslands - partly because of intensive farming but also because of the disappearance of hedges in favour of less attractive fences Use of pesticides, insecticides and other chemical products - they are all toxic and reduce the prey available to hedgehogs so there's less for them to eat Many thousands of hedgehogs are killed on the roads every year in traffic accidents People have smaller and tidier gardens with fences or walls which prevent hedgehogs moving from one garden to another New buildings and roads are carving up habitat and hedgehog populations are becoming isolated, so they are vulernable to extinction in their own area Research is being undertaken to find out more, and reporting your sightings of hedgehogs is an important part of this research - it helps identify habitats these much loved animals are using.   As hedgehogs are tending to use urban areas more and more, it is vital that people living in towns and villages help hedgehogs.  Things are being done to help hedgehogs There are a number of initiatives to help these tiny animals buck the trend.   One of these is the creation of a Hedgehog Improvement Area in Solihull in the West Midlands in the UK.   The area has been funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and it crosses a nature reserve, a public park and surrounding streets.  Campaigners are trying to persuade people to cut a CD-sized hole in their garden fence to create wildlife corridors, so that hedgehogs can do the roaming they need to do.   Another initiative comes in the beautiful Channel Island of Guernsey (famous for the Guernsey Tomato).  Here hedgehogs are being tracked by technology.  But there's plenty of things people can do from home to help hedgehogs Create a wildlife friendly garden Give hedgehogs a nesting box - Garden Wildlife Direct have hedgehog homes from £19.99 In place of fences stick to hedges such as beech, holly, hawthorn, berberis, hazel or buckthorn Create a log or wood pile and a hedgehog might build a nest under it If you have a pond, give hedgehogs a way out such as a ramp so that if they fall in, they won't drown Don't use chemicals on your garden - they destroy the hedgehogs' prey Put out extra food such as meaty cat or dog food, hedgehog food, meal worms or chopped unsalted peanuts.  Give them water to drink (not milk).  Create a 13 cm square hole in your fence or wall so that hedgehogs can roam at night to find food and a mate.  (They actually travel 1 to 2 kilometres a night.)  Make sure there's no netting at a level hedgehogs can get trapped in and clean any litter up Let a corner of your garden run wild If you are having a bonfire, move it on the day you light it or build it the day you set fire to it.  Check before you set it alight for hedgehogs (and check for them before you do any strimming in your garden, too) You can become a hedgehog champion by joining in at Hedgehog Street, run by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.  So far, nearly 34,000 people have become hedgehog champions and are helping hedgehogs in their gardens and in their local area!  The hedgehog is just one example of a change in our behaviour and actions can help a species.   Business can help hedgehogs as well Both KFC and MacDonalds have agreed to change their packaging, which was previously damaging hedgehogs.