Wildlife enthusiasts have launched a campaign that they hope will help create a network of nature-friendly areas across Nottinghamshire.
They say green areas that provide homes for animals ranging from barn owls to crested newts and swallows to otters are being lost at "an alarming rate".
Now they want local people to help them save natural habitats that are under threat - and rebuild wildlife areas that have already disappeared.
The Wilder Future campaign aims to set up what it calls a recovery network of green areas, including hedgerows, riverbanks, school playing fields and city parks.
As part of the campaign, the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is urging local people to write to Nottinghamshire MPs, who will soon be debating the new Environment Act.
The new legislation will come before Parliament in the coming months because most laws that protect wildlife and the environment were passed by the European Union and will disappear after Brexit.
The Trust's aim is to make local councils and other authorities more responsible for protecting natural spaces that already exist, as well as plotting where new areas are needed.
Its nature reserves at Attenborough, Idle Valley, Besthorpe, Rainworth Heath are already very successful and attract thousands of visitors every year.
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But the Trust says that it needs to create more places where wildlife can thrive.
It hopes the Environment Act will propose legal targets for a number of signs of nature recovery, including improving air quality and stopping soils washing away into rivers.
The plans would also ensure that natural habitats are better linked, through a joined-up network that would be monitored by wildlife trusts nationwide.
An independent body would be set up to challenge decisions, made by councils, that could have a negative impact on wildlife.
Paul Wilkinson, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust told Nottinghamshire Live: "We know people care about wildlife and now is the time to recognise there's something everyone can do.
"I'm a Notts lad, born and bred, and I want to see a wilder Nottinghamshire and I'm excited to be leading the campaign here."
"It's about being more strategic and helping to connect areas of wildlife because right now they are fragmented.
"The nature reserves will not work alone - to get into recovery, we need everyone to play their part.
"It's important to understand that the environment underpins everything - health, wellbeing, the economy. It's not just good for nature, it's good for society."
The Trust is asking local people to write to their MPs, telling them stories about their favourite local wildlife spots - and what they believe should be done to protect them.
It is also working with farmers, businesses and authorities to advise them on how best to incorporate nature into developments.
Volunteer John Rogers is a member of the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green, near Shireoaks which set up Nottinghamshire's wildlife-friendly Coronation Meadow.
The meadow was planted in 2014 as part of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations two years earlier.
He said: "Hay was harvested from nearby Ashton's Meadow and spread at Shireoaks, to encourage new species.
"Volunteers worked to clear invasive species, and since then the meadow has been teeming with life.
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"We also work with housing developers to make sure that natural corridors are left for wildlife amongst new developments.
"This campaign is essential. It's all about keeping up the natural habitats and getting the younger generations interested and involved."
The Wilder Futures campaign is also being helped by Nottingham's Castle Rock brewery, which is a long-standing supporter of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
This summer the brewery will be attempting to encourage wildlife to make a home in the beer gardens of its pubs, across Nottinghamshire.
"We really want to help encourage diversity in urban environments," said the brewery's head of marketing, Lewis Townsend.
"We've been doing this sort of thing for a while - and this summer our aim is to make our beer gardens more bee-friendly than ever.
"Our summer planting takes place in May, so we're sourcing more bee-friendly plants and herbs and even installing bee houses."
As part of the national Wilder Futures campaign, a new three-minute 'Wind in the Willows' film will be shown in cinemas, during ad breaks.
It features the voices of David Attenborough and Stephen Fry and highlights the threats facing the much-loved characters of Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad.
The specially-made animation shows the disruption caused by busy roads, polluted rivers, and intensive farming.
Erin McDaid, from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, added: "We have always recognised that nature reserves, whilst hugely important, were never going to be enough to bring back the wildlife we have lost.
"Since Wind in the Willows was published just over 100 years ago we have lost 97 percent of our lowland wildflower meadows, 80 percent of our heathlands and only 20 percent of our rivers are considered healthy.
"Losses of habitat and the decline in species, including the water vole (Kenneth Grahame's Ratty) and the toad, mean that the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world."
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