WANTED – Someone Special For Conservation Award

HAVE you done something special for wildlife in the Chilterns this year? If so, then you may be in line to win the Chilterns Conservation Award.

The Chilterns Conservation Board is calling for entries for the 2005 Chilterns Conservation Award. This annual award, now in its seventh year, recognises and rewards work to conserve the natural environment for the benefit of people and wildlife in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

If your organisation or a group or individual you know has carried out some conservation work such as restored an area of chalk grassland, created a pond or managed an area of farmland with wildlife in mind, the Conservation Board would like to know about it, however small. Last year the Award was presented to Andrew Ingram of Greenfield Farm, Christmas Common near Henley-on-Thames who transformed arable land into wildflower meadows under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and planted new woodlands greatly increasing numbers of farmland birds, butterflies and bumble bees. Previous winners have carried out conservation work in derelict allotments, river-side meadows, woodland and an old chalk pit.

The Chilterns Conservation Award is open to individuals, voluntary organisations and community based groups alike. Applications must be submitted to the Chilterns Conservation Board by 1st July 2005. Entries will be short-listed and visited by a panel of judges in July, and the winner will be announced in August. The winner will receive a unique carved hare trophy and