LANDOWNERS in Shipham, Cheddar and Draycott are being asked to encourage wildlife onto their land by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

LANDOWNERS in Shipham, Cheddar and Draycott are being asked to encourage wildlife onto their land by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

The wildlife charity is hoping to link rare habitats across the Mendip Hills to allow creatures to adapt and move into different areas to cope with climate change.

Experts believe global warming could have a detrimental impact on natural habitats causing animals to move on, so the wildlife trust has set up The Mendip Hills Living Landscape Project to try to preserve rare landscapes.

There are fewer species-rich sites such as hay meadows, healthlands and woodlands.

Much of the grassland, heathland and woodland is in Cheddar, Shipham and Draycott as well as Wells and Chewton Mendip.

The wildlife trust will be contacting landowners to ask them to make their land more wildlife friendly.

It will also be providing advice and grants to enable landowners to do so and monitoring any changes in animal habitats over the years.