During the pandemic walking has given many of us a way out of our homes, even if it’s just a stroll to the end of the road.

And the sights and sounds of nature have been the soundtrack to many of our walks highlighting the benefits we all get from our wildlife.

Now your Lancashire Wildlife Trust is combining walking and wildlife for a week, August 24-30 – giving you an opportunity to takes steps for nature’s recovery.

Individual Giving Officer Vicki Lamb said: “Summer is a great time to get outside and go for a walk, especially in the countryside or along a river path. It’s a great time of year to see wildlife and it can be surprising what you find when you look.”

During Wild Walk Week, we want families, friends and colleagues to get together and walk one million steps for wildlife. 

It’s easy – if 10 people walk five miles for seven days that adds up to 100,000 steps over the week and 1,000,000 steps overall. It means adding a few miles to your 10,000 daily steps and wandering into areas you haven’t visited in years – or brand new areas.

Of course you can set your own targets, using the step tracker on your mobile phone – 1,000 steps a day or 70,000 steps a week, or walk to the shops and back instead of driving. If you walk around your garden you will be supported by your noisy sparrows and starlings.

At the same time we will be asking you to fund raise for its conservation work – so everything you see on your walks, birds, bees, butterflies, mammals and plants and trees, will benefit for years to come. In fact, you are making your own patch more friendly for our diverse wildlife.

Why should you join in? Vicki said: “Wildlife is struggling from new developments across towns and cities, polluted water, intensive farming and the affects from climate change. The State of Nature Report 2019 shows that 15 per cent of species are under threat of extinction in the UK, two percent have already gone.  

“We are here to protect vulnerable species and habitats from these threats. Your trust manages over 40 nature reserves across the region and is restoring incredibly rare peatlands to their former glory.”

Fundraising through the Wild Walk Week can do much more for nature locally, safeguarding the future for wildlife. Every day, the Wildlife Trust looks after and manages over 3,000 hectares of land (more than 7,000 acres) across the North West region.

Habitats vary from limestone cliffs in Carnforth, wetlands in Merseyside, broadleaf woodlands and grasslands in East Lancashire and incredibly rare mosslands across Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

Vicki said: “These are homes to hundreds of incredible species such as red squirrel, large heath butterfly, peregrine falcon and water vole. Funds raised through Wild Walk Week will help to protect these wonderful places and wildlife for the future.”

There are fantastic walks across the region - Wild Walk Week can be done anywhere, in local parks, along canal towpaths, along the beach, even in the big cities.

To find more information please visit.