RHONDDA CYNON TAF ACTION FOR NATURE PLAN
Home is where the heart is and you can start making a difference from nature without stepping outside of your front door.
1.
From my window I can see...
Keep a note of what you see from your window each day. Clouds/weather, colours in the landscape, fixed point photography through the year, birds... you can make very valuable observations without leaving your home. Don't forget to let SEWBReC know your records.
2.
Who shares your home?
There are lots of indoor surveys you can do for the nature that shares your home. For example, our friends and fly-catchers, the spiders! The Spider in da House app can help you get started.
3.
Reading, research, writing and publishing
There is a wealth of wildlife books, reports and studies out there to read and digest, or perhaps you'd like to write your own. Local information about RCT is always welcomed, as is poetry or stories about the nature of RCT. Don't forget to share it with us on our Facebook group.
4.
Share your wildlife stories
Talk and share with friends and families your wildlife stories to help spread the word and raise awareness of our important natural heritage. The more people who appreciate nature, the more will help us to protect it.
5.
Sustainability helps wildlife
Taking steps to become more sustainable e.g. through energy and water efficiency, reducing waste and plastic usage etc. All help wildlife locally and globally.
Case Study
Pholcidae aka Daddy Long Legs spiders.
The daddy long-legs or cellar spider was originally a sub-tropical species, which through international trade arrived in Victorian times. Since then, these spiders have become one of the most obvious species that share our houses. There are three species in the UK, two of which are readily found in houses.
It is an avid catcher of invertebrates and will even snare unwary house spiders. Unless you happen to be house spider, the familiar sight of a daddy-long legs spider high in the corner of a room, or under a little visited cupboard-shelf is almost companiable: an example, perhaps, of a successful and strangely engaging colonisation by a non-native species.
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You can take part in the National Cellar Spider survey- find out how here.