Meet our Spotlight Species – the charismatic animals representing the habitat needs of thousands of other natural neighbours

Welcome to our ‘Spotlight Species’ pages. We’ve chosen these groups of animals for two sets of reasons.

Firstly,  our relationships to them: most people find them attractive or fascinating, if they’re present in your area it shouldn’t be too hard to spot them, and they’re easy to help, whatever kind of outdoor space you have.

Secondly,  their relationships to each other: we’ve worked with experts to identify animals that, between them, represent the habitat needs of lots of other wildlife we could attract to and nurture in our neighbourhoods.

Everything in our ecosystems is connected. So, by nurturing these species and providing what they need, we will be benefiting other species too, in lots of different ways.

Two final points:

1. This selection of animals and the habitat features you can provide to support them works best through our app [link to app page]. With the app you can pick Spotlight Species and get locally relevant advice as to the best thing you can do to support them where you are. It’s much more powerful and dynamic than a static web page
2. This selection of Spotlight Species might not seem right to you. You might think other animals should have been chosen, or that plants, fungi or any number of important wildlife be included too. You’re certainly right that they could have been, and we’d encourage you to click through the links we’ve included to learn more not just about our selection but also the other living things they relate to. With over 14,000 species around London alone, we’re just making things simpler for people with little time or experience. If you have suggestions for how we could do better, please do drop us a line: [link to webform]