Sunday's Big Nature Festival in the Park saw Stroud Valleys Project (SVP) and many other local organisations packing Stratford Park for a nature-friendly day of family fun.

SVP's Tash Fletcher and Tamsin Bent had created a unique activity to demonstrate local interactions between humans and other species, while Deborah Roberts explained the work of the Rodborough Common Conservation Programme.

The SVP-supported Stroud Swift Group were also on hand to outline how people can protect these threatened birds. Sharon Gardham introduced people to SVP's summer-long Landscapes of the Lark festival, which includes a landscape photography competition as well as many other exciting activities.

Stroud Nature and SVP's collaborative project Garden Guardians took visitors on an interactive tour of the Museum's walled gardens while sharing information about how people support wildlife in their own green spaces.

Ruth Powell, leader of SVP's canals project, was also at the festival. She explained: "We work to protect biodiversity along our waterways, and I spoke to visitors about the work SVP do to enhance the wildlife making its home in and around local canals and rivers."

The day-long festival is the highlight of a series of nature events, with many more coming up in the next few weeks: a talk with ecology expert Simon Pickering taking place this Saturday at Stroud Brewery will take a deep dive into the changing relationship between people and otters - how have they changed from persecuted predator to tourist entertainer? And what does the future hold for them?

SVP and Stroud Swift Group are hosting a Swift Walk on Sunday 9 July - that's a walk about swifts, happening at the usual pace...! You'll find out all about the swift and its unique characteristics... and hopefully spot a few as well.

Earlier the same day, you can flutter by and learn more about moths with moth enthusiast Graeme Davis. Next, come and join a safari! There's a canal safari on Thursday 3 August, a Bumblebee safari on Friday 4 August, and a pond safari on Thursday 17 August, all exploring the wildlife right here on our doorsteps.

Get species-specific with a Bat Walk on Stratford Park on Friday 18 August, and the Story of an Eel on Saturday 19 August, and tease out the connections between people and the land upon which we live with.

A Short History of Rodborough Common on Sunday 16 July and Cattle of the Commons on Saturday 5 August. These last two events are part of the Landscapes of the Lark festival, which celebrates the skylark and its place in our shared culture.

Also as part of Landscapes of the Lark, people are also being invited to enter a photography competition with images of the commons above Stroud. Sunset or sunrise, rain or shine - if you've taken a shot to show off, share it with the world; entries close on Tuesday 1 August.

For artists who use other media, there's also an art exhibition with Periscope taking place later in the summer, with calls for applications closing on Friday 7 July.