Schoolgirl Mia Falcon will join Brighton & Hove mayor, Councillor Ann Norman, to launch Big Nature tomorrow (Thursday 21) - a series of special events in the city to mark the International Year of Biodiversity.
 
Jubilee Square in Brighton will be transformed into a mini wood for the event with dozens of trees in pots.
 
Brighton & Hove City Council and Dorothy Stringer School are among a number of organisations who have joined forces to organise Big Nature, others include Natural England, the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Sussex Branch of Butterfly Conservation and Harvest Brighton & Hove.
 
The aim is to inspire Brighton & Hove residents to get involved with nature and find out more about their local wildlife.
 
Mia, a pupil at Carlton Hill Primary School, won a competition to design a logo which will be used to help publicise events during the year and will be presented with a prize by the mayor at Thursday's photocall.
 
A Big Nature Treasure Hunt will be launched at the same time, which will take people on a nature trail around the city. The winner will enjoy a meal for two at local restaurant Terre a Terre.
 
Other events which will be taking place during 2010 include:
 
- A Window Box Wildlife competition, which will be held this summer as part of the city council's City in Bloom event, giving everyone an opportunity to encourage wildlife, using ordinary window boxes
 
- A ‘Bio Blitz’ in Stanmer Park on June 6 where local people will be joined by expert naturalists from all over Sussex, to record as many different species as they can in a 24 hour period
 
- A ‘Bee Aware’ campaign to highlight the decline in the number of bees and to encourage people to grow bee-friendly plants
 
Cllr Norman said:
"We have a wealth of wildlife on our doorstep here in Brighton & Hove and Big Nature will encourage people to find out more about it and take part in nature conservation.“
 
Brighton & Hove has a wide variety of local wildlife for people to enjoy. A recent survey found over a 100 hectares of ancient chalk grassland within the city boundaries - an internationally rare habitat which can support up to forty different types of wild flower in one square meter of turf. The city also has other important habitats, including ancient woodland and vegetated shingle and several rare and specially protected species.
 
For more information visit:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/bignature