Every Flower Counts!

That’s what bees think – so from 11^th to 19^th July, count the flowers on your lawn.  You can get your own Personal Nectar Score to find out how many bees it can feed!

Plantlife want to know what’s on your lawn.  Is your lawn giving a bee feast or a bee snack?

Every flower makes a difference because it provides essential nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and other insects. 

The more wild flowers you’ve got in your lawn, the more nectar it will produce. 

If you took part in #NoMowMay or #LetItBloomJune or you haven’t mown at all this year, you’re more likely to have more flowers and tons more nectar! 

When everyone has submitted their results, Plantlife are going to calculate a National Nectar Index to show how all our lawns across Britain are helping to feed our vital pollinators.

They will also reveal the Top Ten Lawn Flowers and show us all how to increase the number of flowers in our lawns!

Why not set yourself a challenge:  see how many wild flowers you’ve got in your lawn this year and see what you can do to increase it next year? 

We've stopped mowing sections of our lawn and it's amazing how many more insects we've got - we're loving our own nature show!

Buzz off to Every Flower Counts

 Visit the World Rainforest Day's website

The 22^nd June is World Rainforests Day.  Rainforests are vital for life to survive on Earth.

Yet every minute, 40 football fields of rainforest are lost.  This threatens our biodiversity and imperils earth’s health. 

Natural climate solutions such as protecting and restoring forests could reverse global emissions by a third, according to World Rainforest Day.

This day is held to celebrate rainforests and encourage us all to protect them.  If we can all unite and become a forest of action that rains on earth, then we can make a huge difference.

The World Rainforest Day website has these things we can all do to make a positive impact on rainforests, today and every day:

Ways to help rainforests

1. Learn about rainforests and why they matter to each of us
2. Donate to rainforest protectors
3. Eat more plants and less meat
4. Shop for rainforest friendly products
5. Travel sustainably
6. Hold leaders and corporations accountable
7. Spread the word
8. Host a safe, socially distant event

There's more information about each of these positive actions we can take here

Find out more from World Rainforest Day’s website.

#WorldRainforestDay #TakeABreath #ThankARainforest  #BecauseTheWorldCantWait #TheForgottenSolution 

This infographic and others are available to download and share 
from the World Rainforest Day's website

The Sumatran Orangutan Society have launched an appeal to help guides in Sumatra.

These guides normally take tourists through the national parks but because of COVID-19, the Indonesian government has closed the parks to tourists.  This means that the income supporting the guides’ families has vanished overnight.   Food security is tenuous. 

Visit the Sumatran Orangutan Society

These guides are normally at Bukit Lawang, Tangkahan and Ketambe – these sites are in the precious Leuser Ecosystem.  There’s no idea of when the parks will open up again.

So SOS launched an appeal to help the guides.   Thus far, over £6,000 has been raised.  All donations are going to Nature for Change and OIC and they have started to buy and distribute food supplies already.

You can donate here.

Find out more about SOS here

Rapanui have an unusual offer this weekend!

Their Buy One, Get One Tree offer has a twist – an under-the-sea twist.   They’ve teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society to help protect seagrass.

This underwater grass is crucial in the fight against climate change.

Why?  Well, seagrass absorbs 10% of the ocean’s carbon every year.

In fact, estimates are that seagrass can capture as much carbon per hectares as trees in UK woodlands.  And seagrass is vital for marine life.

Find out more about seagrass and why it matters here

Unfortunately, 35% of seagrasses worldwide have been lost or damaged over the last 40 years – so Rapanui want to help the Marine Conservation Society do something about it.

This weekend (until midnight Sunday 14 June 2020), every order on the Rapa store will help the Marine Conservation Society protect 5 square feet of this wonder-plant in the UK's seas!

Visit Rapanui here – they have a wonderful range of t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, bundles, shirts and more!

Visit the Marine Conservation Society here and donate directly to their seagrass appeal

The National Trust for Scotland cares for over 76,000 hectares of countryside, home to a vast range of wildlife and world-famous landscapes.  And, thanks tot he coronavirus, it is in trouble.  It needs some help.

There are some of Scotland's most beautiful places under the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and it works with people of all ages to help them enjoy these sights.  There's an abundance of rare and remarkable wildlife under the care of the National Trust for Scotland;  the Trust monitors them and undertakes conservation work,  helping to protect the habitats that support all kinds of animal and plant communities, from red squirrels and seabirds, to montane scrub and ancient trees.

Otters, pine martens, red squirrels and bats all live on National Trust for Scotland's landscapes.  The Trust cares for over 400 islands and islets - and many of these are home to the world's most important seabird colonies.  It looks after 8 National Nature Reserves and 27 site at Trust places are designated as special importance for nature conservation in Europe. 

You can help and support the National Trust for Scotland by making a donation today