BIODIVERSITY simply means the variety of life. It is not just restricted to rare or threatened species, but obviously the fauna and flora under threat are given special attention.

One of the most impressive schemes in Britain has been devised by the Sefton Coast wardens and covers the area between Liverpool and Southport.

At the earth summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the UK government signed the Convention on Biological Diversity to conserve and enhance biodiversity across the world.

It took time for plans to be devised and the North Merseyside Biological Action Plan (BAP) was launched in 2001. It deals with 15 habitats and has the intention of conserving locally and nationally important habitats and species.

Thanks to funding from the lottery, habitats such as sand dunes, marshland and conifer plantations are all being actively conserved.

These habitats provide protection for plants such as pyramidal orchids, natterjack toads which breed in the damp areas of the dunes and the red squirrels which live in the National Trust owned conifer woods.

Now that the BAP schemes are literally in action we can all look forward to a brighter future for our wildlife whether rare or common.