PRESS RELEASE

20 April 2009

NEW WILDLIFE FRIENDLY GARDEN AWARD SCHEME

Now that spring has sprung and is beginning to tempt more of us into our gardens, Cheshire Wildlife Trust is urging gardeners throughout the county to apply for its new Wildlife Friendly Garden Award. It isn’t just country gardens that attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Urban gardens – no matter how small – can provide a vital haven for our native creatures.

Gill Bellairs from CWT explains:
“Cheshire is a county famed for its gardens, but we’d like to encourage their owners to consider including a few simple features that could make all the difference for wildlife.

“By making our gardens wildlife friendly we can begin to create a vital network, linking urban areas with the wider countryside.”

Features that would help attract wildlife into your garden could include bird feeding stations, nectar-rich flowers, log piles, compost heaps or a pond.

Gill is keen to stress that the county-wide Award scheme includes both rural and urban gardens, so anyone with an outdoor space can join in.

“It would be wonderful if people from all over Cheshire would take part in this scheme because it will help us to build an amazing, living, wildlife-rich network of routes for creatures to travel along – including through towns – so they can easily move between larger open spaces such as nature reserves and country parks.

“In this way, rather than having a disconnected patchwork of protected wildlife areas, we can start to create a ‘Living Landscape’ for Cheshire.”

Having safe havens that provide food and water for wildlife all year round could also help some of our more vulnerable species to survive some of the unpredictable effects of climate change such as droughts or flooding.

Garden ponds or small permanent areas of water can also be very important for many animals. Over the last 120 years over 60% of Cheshire’s field ponds have disappeared, leaving an increasing necessity for garden ponds for wildlife havens.

The scheme is FREE to enter and those who qualify for a Gold, Silver or Bronze Award will receive a Wildlife Friendly Garden Award plaque, to display on their gate or on a post in the garden as well as discounts on gardening products and other ongoing benefits.

To apply for a Bronze Award you will need to have four or more of the following features, which must include at least one from each column A, B and C .

To apply for a Silver Award you will need to have eight or more of the following features, which must include at least two from each column A, B and C .

To apply for a Gold Award you will need to have twelve or more of the following features, which must include at least three from each column A, B and C .

Further information and application forms call 01948 820728 or email wildlifegardening@cheshirewt.cix.co.uk

For tips on how to make your garden more wildlife friendly please send a regular stamped A5 SAE requesting a ‘Wildlife Friendly Garden Awards leaflet’ to Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Bickley Hall Farm, Bickley Nr Malpas, Cheshire, SY14 8EF.

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