SUFFOLK Wildlife Trust has launched its Garden Wildlife Survey 2003 and wants residents in the county to tell them about the wildlife they have spotted in their gardens over the past two years.

SUFFOLK Wildlife Trust has launched its Garden Wildlife Survey 2003 and wants residents in the county to tell them about the wildlife they have spotted in their gardens over the past two years.

The resulting information will provide the trust with valuable data about the importance of gardens as a refuge for wildlife said conservation manager Dorothy Casey.

"Individual gardens may be small but together they form a patchwork linking urban green spaces with nature reserves and the wilder countryside," she said.

Ms Casey said creating a place where plants and animals can flourish really brings a garden to life.

"Building a compost heap is one easy way of encouraging a whole host of creatures as it provides the perfect habitat at different times of year for a wide range of species from beetles, spiders and grass snakes, to slug-eating hedgehogs and slow-worms," she said.

The survey was launched from the garden of Charles Symonds of Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft.

During the past ten years Mr Symonds has transformed his garden into a haven for wildlife while at the same time making it both attractive and relaxing.

Audrey Boyle, of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said: "Mr Symond's wonderful garden proves that you can have an ordered town garden which is also a great habitat for a whole host of species.

"In fact he has successfully attracted a breeding colony on great-crested newts which is now resident in his garden pond."

Mr Symonds said gardens are becoming an increasingly important refuge for wildlife due to the pressure on the countryside and appealed for as many people as possible to take part in the survey.

"My garden has a variety of wildlife features _ from ponds and wood piles to native trees and wildflowers and a rockery _ to provide as wide a variety of habitats as I can.

"As well as a colony of great-crested newts which are a protected species, kingfisher, grass snake, woodpecker and sparrowhawk all make regular appearances but my favourite is the good old toad," he said.

To take part in the Garden Wildlife Survey 2003 write, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope to Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking, Ipswich IP6 9JY.