Local residents, community groups and organisations in and around Aylesbury Vale are being invited to get creative and take part in an exciting wildlife conservation competition in partnership with Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), Chiltern Rangers and the mental health charity Lindengate, the competition is open to individual residents, community groups, town and parish councils and schools. Anyone with an interest in protecting and enhancing local wildlife and environmental habitats. Our area is included in this competition.

Entries can be as small as a window box or container to a larger green space or garden. Entrants are asked to design and create a wildlife habitat around the three core elements needed to sustain wildlife: water, food and shelter.

Ian Thompson, Buckinghamshire Council's Corporate Director for Planning, Growth and Sustainability, explained more: “This competition offers a great way for local groups and individuals to help us work in partnership to enhance and expand our green spaces and gardens as havens for wildlife. We are keen to work with local people to protect existing habitats and create new ones for the benefit of the whole community.”

Competition entries of all shapes and sizes are encouraged. Ian Thompson continued: "We're asking people to be as creative and inventive as they can be with this competition, whatever the size of the space you have. Transforming these spaces into welcoming environments for wildlife has benefits for both the natural world but also the health and wellbeing of the whole community."

A range of prizes are up for grabs for different entrants. This includes bird boxes, bug hotels, and membership to BBOWT for residents, tours of College Lake for schools, Lindengate vouchers for parish and town councils and BBOWT training sessions for community groups.

To find out more and register your interest visit the website.