Wildlife: How you can help
- Create a pond with gently shelving sides for wildlife, and try
to resist stocking it with fish (which will eat your frog spawn,
tadpoles and insect larvae!)
- Feed birds and put up nest boxes (out of reach of cats!)
- Try to use natural or physical methods of pest and weed control
and minimise your use of chemical pesticides and herbicides
- Compost your garden waste and use the finished compost on the
garden (excellent for going underneath runner beans!)
- Minimise your use of peat - both in peat-based growing composts
and as a soil conditioner (to protect peatland habitats threatened
by commercial peat extraction)
- Don't be too tidy - leave piles of leaves and logs under
hedges, and leave some windfall fruit on the ground
- Plant shrubs and herbaceous plants that provide nectar or
produce berries (such as Buddleia, Guelder Rose and Lavender)
- Plant a tree - but select your tree to suit your garden as well
as wildlife
- Become a local Tree Warden
- Join a local environmental group (contact the West Lancs
Environmental Network)
Further information
- General inquiries: District Council Planning Policy Manager,
Peter Bradford, L39 2DF. Tel: 01695 585166 or email:
peter.bradford@westlancsdc.gov.uk
- Lancashire Wildlife Trust, The Barn, Berkeley Drive, Bamber
Bridge, Preston. PR5 6BY. Tel. 01772 324129.
- English Nature, Pier House, Wallgate, Wigan. WN3 4AL. Tel:
01942 820342
- Tree and Tree Warden information - District Council
Arboricultural Officer, Dave Thornber. Tel. 01695-585114 or email
dave.thornber@westlancsdc.gov.uk
- Information about local environmental groups - West Lancs.
Environmental Network, Peter Bradford, c/o West Lancashire District
Council (address as above). Tel. 01695-585166 or email
peter.bradford@westlancsdc.gov.uk
- Information about wildlife and farming - Farming and Wildlife
Advisory Group (FWAG), Seumus Eaves. C/o Myerscough College,
Bilsborrow, Preston. PR3 0RY. Tel. 01995 642334