People are being asked to put their best foot forward for nature and take part in Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Big Wild Walk during the October half term. Cornwall’s wildlife is under threat and people can help by raising vital funds to further the charity’s 30 by 30 vision to restore at least 30% of Cornwall’s land, rivers and seas by 2030.   

Nature-lovers can use the number 30 as inspiration to:

• Walk 30km during Big Wild Walk Week
• Walk 30km in three days
• Walk 30km in one day!

Alternatively, people can create their own challenge, such as walking 3km a day; the distance that a hedgehog can travel around the neighbourhood in just one night.

The walk highlights the urgent need to take action for the nature and climate crisis, whether it’s planting underwater seagrass meadows or bringing back beavers – a species that helps rejuvenate wetlands.

The State of Nature Cornwall 2020 report, published in May this year and led by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, revealed almost a quarter of Cornwall’s terrestrial mammals and butterfly species are at risk, with climate change among the biggest threats to nature on land.

The Wildlife Trusts’ Big Wild Walk week ends on October 31^st just as the international climate conference COP26 starts in Glasgow.

Marte Martin, community fundraising and events manager at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, says: “It’s a beautiful time of year to explore Cornwall’s fabulous countryside. The Big Wild Walk is all about getting outdoors and enjoying nature on your doorstep while raising money for wildlife. Every penny raised will enable us to continue taking steps in the right direction towards a wilder Cornwall.”

Last year Falmouth University student and former Cornwall Wildlife Trust intern Sam Hockaday and his fiancé Tash raised over £500 through their Big Wild Walk, setting themselves a mammoth challenge to walk 100km in their home county of Oxfordshire.

Sam Hockaday says: “I moved to Cornwall in 2017 with a passion for the natural world. From bottlenose dolphins close to the shore in Falmouth, seabirds nesting on the north coast cliffs and the singing of warblers from the undergrowth of Windmill Farm Nature Reserve, Cornwall offers a unique wild experience.

“The Big Wild Walk is an opportunity to give something back to the nature we have all fallen in love with. Cornwall offers some of the most sensational walking opportunities that can be found in the entire UK. Whether it’s a coastal walk from Sennen cove to Lands End or a stroll around many of Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s reserves, there is an abundance of inspiration.”

Sign up, create your own walk and receive a Wilder Future tote bag when you raise £30. Participants can download free autumn nature spotter sheets, a Big Wild Walk tracker sheet and a certificate upon completion. Simply choose your route, and make it fun: hike for hedgehogs, stroll for seals or put your boots on for beavers! If you can’t get outside, set up a remote relay with friends, walk around the house or stride out on a treadmill.