TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham visited Kings Dyke Nature Reserve, Peterborough, as part of the first independent wildlife audit of its kind in the UK.

The BBC Spring Watch presenter met volunteers and members of the public at Forterra’s nature reserve, which is on the site of a former brick quarry, on the morning of Sunday July 22 as part of his UK Bioblitz campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to investigate the extent to which the nation’s wildlife species are under threat, and to raise money for local projects supporting the conservation of wildlife habitats.

Chris opened the campaign in the Scottish Highlands on July 14 and spent 10 days travelling with his team across Northern Ireland, Wales and parts of England. Forterra’s Kings Dyke was one of 50 sites Chris visited as part of Bioblitz.

The nature reserve will be one of the beneficiaries of the fundraising campaign, which people can support by donating on the link below.

Philip Parker, who runs Kings Dyke Nature Reserve, said, “We really appreciated Chris and his team’s visit, and worked throughout the weekend to gather information about local wildlife, recording more than 850 separate species. We also welcomed visitors on the day, and helped them learn more about the local environment by exploring the nature reserve.”

The UK Bioblitz team includes hundreds of experts, species specialists, young conservationists and film makers, all working together to highlight the state of our wildlife and the need for urgent centralised action to ensure we have wildlife everywhere, as nature reserves are not enough.

The campaign is crowd-funded, with all monies raised being distributed back into grass roots front-line conservation projects visited throughout the campaign, as well as The National Autistic Society.