NIDDERDALE’S The Wild Watch project is calling for volunteers from across Ilkley to get out into nature in 2018 and take part in its biggest ever wildlife survey to help wildlife flourish.

Wildlife presenter Martin Hughes-Games, has backed a major campaign to recruit volunteers to take part in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s biggest ever wildlife survey.

The Wild Watch project, made possible with money raised by National Lottery players, helps people learn and enjoy Nidderdale’s wildlife, offering free professional training for volunteers, to help them acquire the natural history skills needed to collect data on threatened species.

BBC’s Springwatch presenter, Martin Hughes-Games, said: “Go wild for The Wild Watch! It’s a brilliant project. The work the team does is so important to help safeguard the wildlife of this beautiful patch of the British countryside. Over a nearly 40-year long career in TV my main passion has been to try to get more people interested in conservation to help protect our special places. Many species are declining at a frightening rate and we just can’t afford to sit back and do nothing.”

Nidderdale’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is home to spectacular, and in some cases, threatened wildlife including Curlew, Great-crested newts and water voles.

The Wild Watch team is inviting families, naturalists, students and volunteers of all ages to come forward to gather information on over 50 species. The data will help decide how best to look after the habitat and safeguard their future.

Alice Crosby, The Wild Watch project officer, said: “We often attract volunteers from Ilkley who are keen to get involved in conservation work, and it’s an opportunity to really explore this remarkable Dale just a short hop away from Ilkley. Volunteering in the outdoors not only helps us do important conservation work, it offers a New Year resolution that can be truly transformative. Regular contact with wildlife and the outdoors is a proven antidote to a range of issues from obesity to social isolation, and has been shown to generally improve our health and wellbeing. We really want to encourage more young people, who are increasingly tied to their smartphone and tablet screens and spend less and less time out in the natural environment to get involved.”

There are a range of activities to get involved in, with training events and going out with experts to look for reptiles such as adders, slow worms and lizards, to moth trapping, woodland birds, aquatic mammals, butterflies and botany.

Martin Hughes-Games added: “The Wild Watch team, with the aid of a growing band of volunteers, is working heroically to safeguard the future of the wildlife of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – from dragonflies to dippers, adders to otters, curlews to cuckoos - Nidderdale is currently rich in wildlife but it needs our help to stay that way. I volunteer, why should you? Because volunteering is massively rewarding - it gets you out and about, you meet some truly fantastic people, and you know you’re doing something important for wildlife. So please get involved with The Wild Watch, get close to nature, do some exciting citizen science and be part of something special.”

More details of all events can be found on the AONB website. Places can also be booked online www.thewildwatch.org.uk