Whether your green space is an abundant backyard or a few pots on a balcony or windowsill, there’s plenty you can do to give nature a helping hand.

Take bees – as we all know, bees play a vital role in our environment, helping pollinate the crops that we rely on for food. However, with changes to habitats over the years, bees are struggling and several species have been placed on endangered lists.

National Lottery-supported projects and organisations up and down the country are taking a stand – here are a few things we can learn from them:

Gardening for bees

Buglife is an organisation dedicated to the conservation of all invertebrates, including bees! They’ve produced a handy guide on gardening for bumblebees, with top tips including:

• Choosing perennials, herbs and cottage-garden plants
• Leaving parts of your garden to go a little wild
• Creating improvised underground nest sites
• Or build a bee hotel

Evaluating your garden and surveying your bees

The BumbleBee Conservation Trust has a range of resources to help the UK’s bee fans get involved in conservation. Why not check out their guidance on surveying the bees you find, or use their Bee Kind tool to see how bee-friendly your planting is at the moment?

Educating future generations

The future of conservation lies in the hands of young people, so what better place to start learning about the natural world than schools? Polli:Nation is encouraging pupils across the UK to transform their school grounds and other local green spaces into pollinator-friendly habitats, which is great news for bees.

Check out their website for more information on how to get involved, and happy gardening!