I was fortunate to spend most of my childhood with my amazing grandma, who is a fountain of knowledge. She would take me on long country walks near her home in Pentrich and point out the skylarks, or we would go blackberry-picking during the summer holidays.

My grandparents always nurtured any interests we’d show, so it was from there that Grandma would then take me birdwatching regularly. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had an influence on me, as Wyver Lane was our favourite place to go. I made lots of happy memories there. To have fallen in love with nature and found solace in it, I was then heartbroken when learning about the biodiversity crisis. I had been aware of climate change and 
loss of wildlife abroad (such as tigers), but I hadn’t been aware it was happening on our doorsteps. It was that, studying Wildlife Conservation at Nottingham Trent University and reading Silent Earth by Dave Goulson that awakened me to the urgency of the situation and led to me deciding I wanted to dedicate myself to doing whatever I could to save the creatures I’d fallen in love with.

I started a community group in Swanwick where I live. The ambition for our group is to be on the frontline and on the ground for wildlife in our immediate area, encouraging everyone to do their part for nature. We recently launched a network of groups called the Amber Valley Nature Network, where we can share ideas, learn from each other and amplify each other’s voices – creating a positive ripple effect.

My advice would be to be brave and jump in! I didn’t have a grand plan when I started; I mainly started by creating a Facebook group for people in the village to post their wildlife sightings and musings, and to raise 
awareness of the biodiversity crisis. It was through this that I met like-minded people who also wanted to do more for nature. I’d encourage you to speak to other local groups and organisations, including Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. They can give you advice on any of the more complex areas, like how to get funding. But my biggest piece of advice is to embrace it and have fun. Find the joy in the struggle – biodiversity loss is sad, but 
finding like-minded people who want to help is the most uplifting experience. I’d have said prior to this I was an anxious person and an introvert, but it has really brought me out of my shell. There is a role for everyone, and a wide range of skillsets needed. Just having a willingness to want to help means you’re most of the way there.

From getting to know people and building friendships, to meeting with other community groups in the village (such as the church and working with them on a new mowing regime in the graveyard, which has revealed 
unusual plants which have been hiding there the whole time, like pignut and harebells!), planting and managing our own meadow at the playing fields, and planting the troughs within the village with wildflowers. 
Things have quickly escalated since we started just over two years ago. We managed to fundraise to buy an area of woodland in our village so it could remain in the public domain. I never imagined we would achieve something like this, and it’s now an incredible asset to engage the community with nature. We named the woodland.

“Rookery Wood” as it was always known as “the Rookery” by the locals. But the greatest and most unexpected 
achievement is the connection with the community. We talk about landscapes and habitats being fragmented, but so are our communities. Reconnecting those relationships turns out to be a vital element to reconnecting our landscapes as well.

I want to keep working with people and communities. The more you delve into the biodiversity crisis, the more you realise it’s intertwined with social, economic and political issues. But I’d say the ultimate hurdle is psychology. What we need is to empower people, build confidence, and ultimately set a foundation of kindness and friendships. It is only by people working together that we can bring change. By building strength in people and communities, I see this extending to influencing policy makers and decision makers as well. We all have a part to play, in spreading those positive ripples.