Big boost for smallk creatures

I SPEND lots of minutes on a bench by our back door, watching bees, butterflies and hoverflies on the lavender.

- ALAN WRIGHT

This is less than a square meter of plant, but it attracts a remarkable amount of wildlife on dry days.

This week the Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Wilder Youth group launched an exciting campaign called Small Spaces for Small Creatures, which is just what I was talking about.

Even small spaces, like my lavender plant, are important to wildlife, because they become part of a network of small places, stretching across my lane, village, county, and region.

The Wilder Youth group's campaign aims to get as many people as possible to pledge to care for their own small space or spaces, so that we get more than 100 square metres of these wild places across the North West.

It could be a large plant or tree, a flowerbed, an area of lawn or even a windowbox if you are limited to the size in your garden.