The Wildlife Trusts’ annual 30 Days Wild challenge was more popular than ever this year – 400,000 people carried out well over 10 million Random Acts of Wildness over the 30 days of June. 

Throughout June, The Wildlife Trusts’ challenge participants to do something wild and enjoy nature every single day. In response, people have been sharing their heart-warming stories and colourful photos and videos across social media channels. As well as the 50,000 individual households who signed up for their free packs of ideas, wall chart, stickers and wildflower seeds, over 9,000 schools, 1,300 businesses and 570 care homes also took part. 

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Communications Manager, Abi Webber says:

“We have been overwhelmed with the local involvement in 30 Days Wild this year, with over 2,800 people in our two counties signing-up to the challenge. It is fantastic to see so many people dedicated to engaging with the wildlife and the nature on their doorstep.

“Thank you to everyone who has shared their journey with us — from photographing wildlife, litter picking, reading about wildflower meadows or visiting a nature reserve, it’s great to see all the creative, fun and sometimes simple ways we can interact with the wildlife around us.”  

Dr Amir Khan from Ch 5’s GPs Behind Closed Doors is an ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts and took part in the challenge for the first time this year. He says:

“It’s been fantastic! I’ve loved the small, sometimes unexpected random acts that have inspired and will continue to inspire me every day – I’ve fed and watched the birds in the garden, I’ve noticed more nature while out running and taken breaks at lunchtime just to appreciate the world outside. I’ve truly felt the benefit to my physical and mental wellbeing and I think our wildlife has too.” 

Wildlife gardening in homes, care homes and schools was a popular activity, with people creating small ponds, building homes for bugs, sowing wildflowers, noticing the birds and insects that visited and pledging not to mow their lawns, to encourage more variety of wildlife to flourish.

Other Random Acts of Wildness included:

• Waking up early to hear the dawn chorus at its best
• Organising beach cleans and litter picks
• Noticing a rainbow of flowers and trees growing in towns and countryside
• Creating wild works of art from petals, leaves and feathers.
• Care homes residents and carers have enjoyed planting pollinator-friendly blooms, making leaf art and creating wild playlists, with music inspired by nature.

Every year The Wildlife Trusts carry out a wildness quiz during 30 Days Wild.  Previous years’ results show that 30 Days Wild is unique in improving people’s perception of beauty in nature, and that noticing natural beauty makes people happier and want to care for it.*

University of Derby’s evaluation of 30 Days Wild
The University of Derby have monitored participants of 30 Days Wild since it began in 2015.
30 Days Wild: Development and Evaluation of a Large-Scale Nature Engagement Campaign to Improve Well-Being by Miles Richardson, Adam Cormack, Lucy McRobert, Ralph Underhill was published Feb 2016. Online here.
* 30 Days Wild and the Relationships Between Engagement With Nature’s Beauty, Nature Connectedness and Well-Being by Miles Richardson and Kirsty McEwan was published September 2018. Online here.