Saving Planet Earth

The trust looks after existing nature reserves, creates new ones, works to protect wildlife in area beyond reserves, it monitors wildlife in the county, and involves local people in conservation. The Trust says that many species and habitat have disappeared over the past 50 years - but it wants to try and reverse the process, and increase the diversity of local plants and wildlife.

The Wildlife Trusts' logo

There are four small parts of Planet Earth locally that we are focusing on:

*Heathland - There's less than a football pitch of heathland left in Northamptonshire, but the Trust are recreating heathland at Lings Local Nature Reserve. Areas of the woodland have been cleared with the help of local people, and a play area has been set up. Most people think of Lings as the name of a housing estate - but it originally meant heathland... so the Trust are hoping to turn back the clock.

*Black Hairstreak Butterflies - This rare butterfly is only found in an area that stretches from Oxford to Peterborough, and the Trust has just launched a project to find out where you can see them. They are only on the wing at the end of June and the start of July - and the best place to see them is at Glapthorn Cow Pastures.

A Manx Loaghtan sheep

*Rare Cattle Save plants - The Trust run four reserves at Twywell Hills and Dales, Ditchford, Summer Leys and Old Sulehay where rare breed cattle and sheep are helping to encourage biodiversity - the range of local animals and plants. By using Manx Loaghtan sheep and English Longhorn Rare Livestock to graze the land then species such as Bloody nosed beetles and plants like Great Burnet are encouraged to flourish.

Brownfield Sites - Many areas we think of as "natural" were in fact once industrial - for instance, quarries such as those at Twywell Hills and Dales and Collyseston nowadays support species that were once common - with a rare ground beetle being found at Collyweston and a red ant at Twywell.