Vivara joins forces with Roadchef to encourage nature to unexpected places

Leading wildlife specialist, Vivara, has announced a landmark partnership with one of the UK’s largest motorway service area operators in a bid to encourage wildlife to thrive in unexpected places.

The long-term partnership will see the creation and installation of wildlife friendly habitats at Roadchef service stations across the country to support butterflies, bees, birds and other native wildlife. The installations will also provide visitors to the service stations with an area to enjoy the benefits of nature while breaking up long journeys.

Sarah Hancocks, Marketing Manager for Vivara, commented: “We are so excited to announce our partnership with Roadchef. We’re incredibly passionate about nature and know that all types of wildlife play a vital part in our ecosystem. We’re on a mission to help give parts of Britain back to nature and help restore the balance of biodiversity – particularly in places you may not expect to find wildlife – like service stations. Our collaboration is a great way of showing people that nature and wildlife can thrive in the most unexpected of places!

“We know, too, that spending time in nature is hugely beneficial to our mental health, so we hope that we are able to inject a bit of calm into people’s motorway journeys!”

Amanda Mason, Marketing Manager for Roadchef, commented: “We’re thrilled to have partnered with Vivara to introduce wildlife friendly habitats to our sites. We pride ourselves in offering a relaxing place to stop and rest and the new installations will give our visitors the chance to conveniently reap the benefits that nature has to offer, whilst also meaning that we can support a biodiverse ecosystem on Britain’s roadsides.”

The start of the partnership has been marked with the planting of butterfly-friendly borders in a number of Roadchef locations, including its flagship services at Norton Canes, to coincide with the launch of the 2022 Big Butterfly Count.

As official sponsors of Big Butterfly Count, Vivara wants to encourage people to take part in the nationwide survey to help assess the health of the environment and provide feedback on the number of butterflies found across the country. The campaign also aims to inspire people to help protect butterflies and other pollinators, which are declining in the UK with recent research revealing half of all British butterflies are now on the UK Red List of endangered species.

Dr Zoe Randle, Senior Surveys Officer at Butterfly Conservation, said: “Taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is a way for people to really help conserve butterflies and moths. Armed with the right information we are able to put in place effective conservation measures. All you need to do is spend 15 minutes in a sunny spot and count the number and type of butterflies you see, and then submit your results on the website or through the free app. It’s a perfect activity to do while taking a break from a journey.”

Earlier this year, Vivara launched a unique range of new wildlife garden kits designed to help gardeners give a corner of their green space back to wildlife.  Designed to fill a one metre by three metre space, the garden kits contain a handpicked array of plants which are beneficial and nutritional to wildlife, as well as a selection of feeders and shelters to help promote biodiversity on your doorstep.

This year’s Big Butterfly Count runs from the 15th July to the 7th August. For more information and to take part simply visit www.bigbutterflycount.org or download the free Big Butterfly Count app.

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