Environment Agency Action Earth campaign wants volunteers to make a practical difference to their environment by organising projects to meet their community needs.

Last year, over 900 projects registered with the campaign across the UK and Wales and involved more than 15,000 volunteers. Examples of completed projects include:

• planting trees and shrubs in a school to improve play areas

• recycling tyres to use as planting pots to grow strawberries and vegetables

• cleaning a pond to encourage more frogs onto an allotment site

• planting wild flowers to attract wildlife.

Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency said: "This campaign and partnership between the Environment Agency and CSV is unique. The joint venture emphasises the need for people to be aware of their surroundings and with the help of grants from the campaign, everyone has an opportunity to make a difference to their environment, and the areas they live or work. We need to protect our environment and taking small steps like this can help make significant changes."

Once a project is registered with Community Services Volunteer (CSV), a grant is awarded to help with set up and running costs. There is also an opportunity to win one of five award categories and receive a further £300 cash prize to be invested in the project.

Winners of the five categories will be announced on World Environment Day, 5 June 2006, when the Environment Agency will be asking everyone to make a promise to do something practical for World Environment Day. This annual event is a people’s event with global participation and is celebrated with activities including street rallies, recycling and clean-up campaigns, concerts and tree planting.

BBC TV Groundforce presenter Kirsty King will join Sir John Harman and CSV Deputy Executive Director Bill Garland to launch the campaign at Freightliners Farm in Islington, north London.

To register a project or get more information, call CSV Environment on Tel: 0121 328 7455 or visit www.csv.org.uk/actionearth

To find out more about how you can get involved with World Environment Day 2006 and how you can take part in the Environment Agency’s unique online promise campaign and make a difference to your world in 2006.

Ends

Notes for Editors

1) Environment Agency Action Earth runs from 1 January 2006 to 30 June 2006. Winners and runners up of Action Earth 2005 are available from the Environment Agency press office. Photos of the launch of the campaign at Freightliners Farm, Islington, are also available.

2) The five award categories are: 1. Wackiest Project Award: award for the most unusual location or type of project; City Slickers Award: award for the best urban project; Animal Madness Award: award for the best project involving wildlife; Green Welly Award: award for the best rural project; Transformation Award: award for the best planting, restoration, recycling or clearance project

3) CSV (Community Service Volunteers) is the UK’s leading volunteer organisation and creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their community through volunteering, training and community action. Each year 164,000 people give 4.1 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV.

4) The Environment Agency for England and Wales is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), set up under the Environment Act 1995, to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England and Wales. The Agency has major responsibilities for controlling industrial pollution and wastes management, regulation of the water environment, and for protection against flooding from rivers and the sea. The Environment Agency’s primary aim is to protect and improve the environment and make a contribution towards the delivery of sustainable development through the integrated management of air, land and water. Details of the Agency’s functions are available on the Agency’s website.

5) To receive a £50 grant, which covers expenses including materials, projects must: improve the local environment, involve volunteers, or meet a local community need. Examples of projects completed by volunteers last year include: Planting up a wildlife area in a local school; Erecting bird/bat/hedgehog boxes in a nearby wood; Cleaning up a local beach; Clearing and signing local footpaths.