Come along and join in a day of fun, free wildlife activities as we celebrate the Island's coast and countryside at the annual Fort Victoria Foray.

Amongst the activities this year are fossil hunting, rock pooling, wildlife gardening and willow weaving. There will also be walks in the woods and on the beach where we need you to help record all wildlife that you encounter for the naturespot activity.

So please bringing your own digital camera or camera phone so you can show us what you've spotted on the day!

The event runs from 10.30am - 4.30pm and is free. There is an overflow car park available and a free shuttle bus will also be provided from Gas Works Lane near Yarmouth Road bridge.

Further information about the day can be obtained by contacting Richard Temple at IW Council Parks and Countryside by calling (01983) 823893 or by emailing richard.temple@iow.gov.uk.

The Isle of Wight Biodiversity Partnership now have a Facebook page so why not become our 'friend'?

www.facebook.com/wildonwight

We'll be posting updates, stories, news of events and images on the site plus on Thursday 19th August we'll be attempting a live feed at the Fort Victoria Foray where we are asking the public to help us record all the wildlife encountered on the day!

The winners of the 'Name a Species' competition which featured last month as a news item in our blog have now been announced.

Emerging from obscurity, ten previously unnamed British species are now enjoying some long-awaited limelight as the results of the competition to give them popular names have been announced. The winning entries include the Kaliedoscope jellyfish - a beautiful stalked jellyfish and Witches whiskers - a rare lichen which is found here on the Island.

Read the full story and view all 10 species here.

The Footprint Trust’s Adopt-A-Garden scheme, based on the Isle of Wight, is offering free training to would-be gardeners, thanks to funding received from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme.

Now is the time of year that gardeners are starting to benefit from their worthwhile hobby. Cucumbers, potatoes, courgettes and lettuces are all being picked at the moment. The gardeners are saving their households money and allowing their families to eat really fresh produce, straight from the ground and free of chemicals. If you’re feeling envious and wished that you too could grow your own – then help might be on its way.

The ‘Can You Dig It’ training scheme will give new gardeners the ability to grow vegetables and compost waste. The charity will then try to match up the new gardeners with a nearby garden for them to ‘Adopt.’ Those taking part will be helping the environment too by reducing their ‘food miles’.

Places on the free training scheme are limited to the first 20 people. Preference will be given to those without gardens who are willing to ‘Adopt’ one in their neighbourhood.

For more details contact Don on 01983 822282, or email don@footprint-trust.co.uk

Isle of Wight locations that are loved by locals but hardly known to visiting holidaymakers are revealed in a new booklet featuring a range of challenges, designed for adventurous families with enquiring minds. The closely-guarded Island secrets are unveiled by ferry operator Wightlink in Secret Wight, a free 28-page colour booklet which takes as its inspiration the simpler family holidays enjoyed when today’s parents were children.

Secret Wight sets a range of discovery challenges for parents and children to conquer together on 10 different adventures. Using Ordnance Survey grid references to guide them, families can set out on foot to find miles of virgin sand, rocky ledges sheltering below towering cliffs, other-worldly monster vegetation covering huge expanses of rock pools, flora and fauna rarely found on mainland Britain and even dinosaur bones that have been hidden for millions of years.

To find out more visit www.wightlink.co.uk/secretwight or tel. 0871 376 1000