A YEAR after the launch of Eastleigh's Biodiversity Action Plan, campaigners are are still wild about the rural areas.

The action plan, dubbed Wild About Eastleigh, was compiled as a local response to back agreements made at the Rio Earth Summit seeking to reverse the decline of the variety of plants and animals that make up the intricate web of life on Earth.

Eastleigh Council has produced its first annual report on work for wildlife in the borough and the work that has been carried out.

The range of projects has included coppicing at Ramalley Copse in Chandler's Ford to promote woodland plants and insects, spreading heather seed at Hamble Common to increase the area of rare coastal heathland. There has also been a survey of otters at Itchen Valley Country Park using up-to-date DNA analysis techniques.

The council's executive councillor for the environment Louise Bloom is pictured visiting a meadow in Fair Oak which is home to a large population of orchids. Scrub has been removed and cattle introduced to help the rare plants to continue to thrive.