Cardiff Naturalists' Society

The Cardiff Naturalists' Society is the longest established wildlife organization in the area having been formed in 1867.
Today it is the premier place for people with a wide interest in all aspects of wildlife with a most varied programme of indoor lectures and field meetings on offer of any local society.
Talks and field trips cover all aspects of Wildlife from Plants to Animals, Birds, the Environment and Geology. With a mix of talks on local places in and around Cardiff and also the wider world. They are suitable for all levels of knowledge.

Wild About Cardiff

Keep up to date with the Cardiff Parks Ranger Service HERE. Leave your wildlife sightings, check out events and maybe get involved and volunteer.
Through 'Wild About Cardiff' on Facebook they aim to show the many wildlife spectacles that can be enjoyed in Cardiff throughout the year and how to get actively involved in your local patch.

Bat Conservation Trust

If you have an interest in finding out more about bats why not go to the Bat Conservation Trust:

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  • need help with a bat go to their HELPLINE before ringing
  • Contact the National Bat Helpline Tel: 0845 1300 228 or Submit your query by email Helpline Opening Hours From October-April (non-peak season): Monday-Friday: 9am-5.30pm From May-September BCT the Out of Hours Helpline is also available in the evenings and on weekends. Please note, the out of hours helpline is run by volunteers and is for emergency calls only.
  • More info about bats can be found HERE.
  • Also, why not download the 'Discover the Dark Side' booklet HERE from BBC Breathing Places.

Nature Detectives

A brilliant website for children to help create ideas about wildlife in the UK. Nature detectives has over 1000 ideas, games and downloads that you can get FREE on their Website.

They also run the best kids' club, with challenges every week to keep kids busy and learning out and about, wherever they live. It only costs 23p a week!

UK charity dedicated to saving butterflies, moths and our environment. They advise landowners and managers on protecting important habitats in the countryside, towns and cities; carry out surveys, monitoring and research; manage nature reserves and promote wildlife friendly gardening ... MORE

Butterfly Conservation

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Essex Skipper on Hailey Park
The UK's leading woodland conservation charity. Founded in 1972, the Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity and relies on the support of its many members and other supporters to continue its work.

The RSPB are saving threatened birds and wildlife across the UK and overseas. With your support, we are creating a world richer in nature.
Keep a lookout on the park for dragonflies and damselflies, which can be such a beautiful sight.

For more information on them go to the BDS website.

British Dragonfly Society

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Beautiful Demoiselle on Hailey Park. Photo by Suzie

The BBCT is an organisation in the UK that makes efforts to conserve bumblebees and their habitat.

Bumblebees are beautiful, hard working and incredibly important pollinators. In the last 70 years two species have become nationally extinct, and others are have declined dramatically. In short, bumblebees are in trouble
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Bumblebee Conservation Trust

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Photo by Suzie
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales manages around 90 wildlife reserves in Wales, from Cardiff to Aberystwyth, including the island reserves of Skokholm and Skomer. Volunteers and Local Groups help them manage these, Local Groups also run a wide variety of events - see Forest Farm for their Watch group.

They stand up for wildlife, making it as accessible as possible for everyone.

Gardens & Grasshoppers

Gardens and Grasshoppers: Kid's Guide to Insects is not a UK link but a useful one none the less. This was sent to us from a group in the USA and while its a commercial site it also has some interesting resources.

Insects and bugs may seem gross, but they can impact our daily lives. These small creatures can make a big difference to our planet.
Grow Wild is supported by the Big Lottery Fund and led by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Grow Wild inspires communities, friends, neighbours and individuals across the UK to come together to transform local spaces, by sowing, growing and enjoying native wild flowers.
They believe that this simple act of creativity can turn spaces into beautiful, 

Grow Wild

inspiring and colourful wildlife havens; encouraging people to care for and delight in the nature around them.

"A Place for Nature Near You."

While Breathing Places came to its end in December 2010 they still have the archive available @ BBC’s Breathing Places.

For ongoing nature and wildlife information from the BBC, take a look at the Nature Website.

Breathing Places
 Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, and we are passionately committed to saving Britain's rarest little animals, everything from bees to beetles, and spiders to snails. Today bugs are under threat as never before, so help us to secure a diverse and wildlife-rich planet for future generations.

The only organization dedicated to the study and conservation of all mammals of the British Isles.
We support a large network of mammal experts and enthusiasts, working to survey, monitor and research mammals, learn more about them and secure their future.


In the National Museum Cardiff, discover art, archaeology, natural history and geology. With a busy programme of exhibitions and events, we have something to amaze everyone, whatever your interest – and admission is free!

Museum of Wales



The Cardiff University Otter Project is a national scheme for collecting information on otters  in England and Wales, managed in collaboration with the Environment Agency. … MORE.

Cardiff Otter Project
Plantlife is the charity that celebrates the nation's wild plants. They work hard to protect plants on the ground and to build understanding of the vital role they play in everyone’s lives.

Plantlife carries out practical conservation work, manages nature reserves, influences policy and legislation, runs events and activities that connect people with their local wild plants and works with others to promote their conservation for the benefit of all. There's also fun stuff to do on their website! Please help them to protect and conserve them.

Love Outdoor Play
While led by Play England, Love Outdoor Play is supported by the Free Time Consortium, this is a growing collective of local and specialist organisations working together to increase freedom to play.

Their manifesto is that having the freedom to play outdoors improves the well-being of children and their communities.
Together, they are building a visible community to support exploration, adventure and play.

Wherever you see a Love Outdoor Play sticker or symbol, you’ll find people who welcome play and are looking out for young people.

Wales doesn't seem to have a similar campaign to promote this important aspect of play.


However, if you go HERE you can download the recent RSPB Every Child Outdoors Wales, (or from this website), which tells you why regular contact with nature has such positive impacts for children and more so in the 21st century.
Every Child Outdoors Wales
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