A special commission in 2009 was for the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).

I made 21 silver hazelnuts (or filbert) – one of which was gold plated for me in London – as 'rewards' for the PTES Great Nut Hunt. There are 21 because 2009 is the 21st birthday of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme.

PTES, with support from Natural England, is asking members of the public to help save the rare hazel dormouse by taking part in a nationwide survey of woodlands around the country. The survey, which runs from October 2009 to March 2010, enlists the help of the public to ferret out gnawed nuts to determine the distribution and numbers of this rare woodland mammal.

To encourage would-be ‘nutters’ to take part in the survey, PTES has hidden my nuts – or 'flags' about them – across England and Wales.

Those registering for the survey receive a pack with:

• information about the silver and golden nut prizes
• clues as to their whereabouts
• information about the hazel dormouse
• a recording form
• a copy of the Countryside Code
• guides on how to identify hazel trees and nibbled nuts.