Enter our wildlife gardening competition

Avon Wildlife Trust has launched its first wildlife gardening competition, as part of a west of England-wide effort to create more spaces for nature and promote the power of pollinators.

With thanks to the Natural History Consortium and the Community Pollinator Fund from the West of England Combined Authority, led by Metro Mayor Dan Norris, the wildlife gardening competition opened for submissions on Friday 24 March and will close at 11.59pm on Sunday 16 July.

The competition looks to celebrate the amazing green spaces across our region which are making a difference for wildlife. This could be a blossoming balcony, a small urban nature haven, a sprawling back garden, community patches, nature-friendly allotments, school outdoor spaces and everything in between.

The competition will be split into four categories: Individual, Community, Education and Food Growing. Entries are submitted using a form on the Avon Wildlife Trust website, where applicants will be asked questions about their garden and can upload a supporting photo or video to show off their space.

Everyone who enters the competition will receive a poster they can display to show they’re taking part and get their neighbours involved.

Three finalists from each category will be chosen by a panel of judges, and all 12 finalists will be visited by a Team Wilder Ecologist, to talk about their wildlife garden and offer expert advice. A photographer will also attend to take the photos which will then be used for the final public vote. Winners of the public vote will then be announced in the early autumn.

The winners in each category will go on to receive:

• A wildlife camera, to capture the visitors to their garden
• £75 voucher to spend at Grow Wilder
• Prints of the photographs taken of their green space
• A wildlife gardening book from the author, journalist and TV presenter Kate Bradbury
• Ecological advice

Julie Doherty, Head of Communities and Engagement at Avon Wildlife Trust, said:

“Wildlife gardening is such a brilliant and accessible way to create more space for nature, so we want to celebrate those neighbourhood spots that wildlife love to visit!

“It doesn’t matter what form your garden takes, it’s all about how you use it to attract pollinators and other wildlife. That could be as simple as letting your lawn grow wild so that more insects can call it home, thereby attracting more birds! We’d also love to see the inventive ways people have provided water and shelter for wildlife, using nature-friendly techniques and creative uses of space.

“This is all part of our work through the Natural History Consortium and the West of England Combined Authority to promote nature-friendly gardening techniques and show the difference it can make to people and wildlife alike.”

Metro Mayor Dan Norris added: “Calling all bee buddy groups - please get involved with this brilliant award scheme.

“I know there are some amazing organisations of all sizes in our region doing their bit to create vital green spaces for nature and back our pollinator friends - the West of England’s unsung heroes. It’s why I’m proud a £20,000-plus grant from my West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has helped support these awards for 2023 to give such groups doing the hard graft of expanding bee and other wildlife habitats the recognition they so utterly deserve.

“This is an important step as we continue getting down to the bees-niss of making the West of England the Bee and Pollinator Capital of the whole country.”