The Wildlife Trusts are challenging you to do something wild every day in June. They are repeating last year’s successful 30 Days Wild campaign in which thousands of people took part. The beauty of this initiative is that anyone can take part, young or old, wherever they are. The Trusts say ‘We don’t want you to give anything up this June. You don’t have to bake, grow a moustache or dress in funny clothes (although you can if you want, of course). We just want you to give yourself time in the wild: time for you, time for your family, time to reconnect with nature’.

As a way of engaging people with nature this is a fun alternative to counting things like butterflies, earthworms, or garden birds, valuable as doing these things is. The idea is to open people’s eyes and engage them with the nature that is all around them all the time, whether in the heart of the countryside or in the heart of the city.

This is nature conservation for the twenty first century. It’s not to do with visiting nature reserves (although that could be part of it) or lists of scientific names, but rather it’s about directly experiencing and enjoying your neighbourhood’s nature and wildlife. There is concern that we have generally become divorced from this nature, and that children in particular no longer have the freedom to experience wild places. This is to the detriment of both wildlife and our own health and wellbeing. This simple campaign provides a shared and secure way to address these issues.

Full details of how to take part are on the Trusts’ website: wildlifetrusts.org where you can also order an information and activity pack or see how to download the 30 Days Wild app. Ideas for ‘acts of wildness’ include wearing buttonholes or posies of wildflowers, adding elderflowers to cordials, water or sparkling wine, putting up bird feeders at work, organising a natural treasure hunt for a family or other group, or just lying back in the garden and listening to the sounds of nature. Or perhaps one for the Black Country – forging a daisy chain. The Trusts also want you to share your activities on social media.

* Peter Shirley is Chair of the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country

Twitter: @PeteWestbrom