We are a group of volunteers dedicated to rewilding our little corner of North Yorkshire so we can ensure a better, more diverse environment for people, plants and animals to live and thrive in.

We are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. More than half of our species are in decline and many are threatened with extinction. Insects are in decline and, with them, a vital part of the food chain for hundreds of animals.

Our rivers are unhealthy – clogged with silt and full of chemicals and sewage. Aquatic plants and animals are struggling to survive and, lets face it, nobody wants to see kids playing in water like that.

Native woodlands cover only 2.5% of our land. What used to be miles of native forest – oak and native pinewood – have been lost to fenced off fields for argiculture.

Our moorlands are less biodiverse than some deserts and our natural bogs and wildflower meadows are replaced with mile upon mile of the unhealthy heather and grass.

We cut back the grass, destroy the wildflowers, trim the verges and hack at the hedgerows, removing a breeding and feeding ground for bees, butterflies and birds.

We spray weedkiller around our streets and gardens and pave over drives and gardens to make space for ever more cars. Our gardens are no place for nature to visit us.

We don’t think it needs to be this way … and we suspect that neither do you.

None of us can fix climate change alone, we need our government to help us avert what looks to be a catastrophe of global scale. Many of the problems are massive and require international cooperation and a commitment from huge corporations that we have yet to see.

But we can take our own part of the world, apply some simple steps and start to make some positive change. It might not be a lot, it might not be enough, but it would be a start.

You can start in your garden, on your driveway, on your village green, in your school or place of work.

You can start at a weekend or on a light, summer evening.

You can start small, and on your own, or you can join us here and help us make some even bigger change happen.