Planting the seed to get kids stuck into wildlife friendly gardens
3 June 2010
Last call for entries to the Big Wildlife Garden School’s competition
The weather is warming up and insects and birds are back and waiting to be invited to wildlife havens around the country. Natural England is working with schools to encourage wildlife friendly gardening this Summer with the Big Wildlife Garden
- a budding wildlife friendly gardening website. Since the website’s launch in September 2009 it has reached over 30,000 children from over 1,000 schools, getting kids outdoors and creating wildlife friendly gardens across the country.
So far, over half of these schools are taking part in a competition to find the best school garden in England. The competition is well underway and it is time to get the trowels out for the final touches in the race to the finish line.
Schools have until 9 July 2010 to make as many wildlife-friendly improvements as possible to their garden or green space. Children can create a wildflower meadow, build a pond and install nests for bumble bees – whatever it takes to collect enough points to reach the Gold or Green Award level. Your school may already have what it takes to qualify - does your garden have any attractive, innovative features or an array of flowers and plantlife? A few simple steps could put you in the running for this prestigious garden award.
Poul Christensen, Chair of Natural England, said: “The number of schools we have engaged through the Big Wildlife Garden is really encouraging. Bringing education outdoors to promote wildlife friendly gardening not only gets kids outside, enjoying the fresh air and learning about the importance of our natural environment, it provides much needed support for biodiversity. Gardening in a wildlife-friendly way can considerably increase the diversity of plants and animals and create an oasis for species in decline such as hedgehogs, holly blue butterflies, song thrushes, bumble bees and stag beetles.”
Poul Christensen continued: “The Big Wildlife Garden aims to inspire children to enjoy the natural world and learn how to enrich outdoor spaces. Natural England’s Big Wildlife Garden website is the perfect place for children to learn how to invite wildlife into even the most humble garden this summer.”
Entries to the ‘Big Wildlife Garden, School of the Year’ competition close on 9 July 2010 – ENTER NOW AT: www.bwg.naturalengland.org.uk/news/show/2
Help create the biggest virtual wildlife reserve in the country by signing up to Natural England’s Big Wildlife Garden at: www.bwg.naturalengland.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The Big Wildlife Garden is part of Natural England’s ‘One Million Children Outdoors’ programme which launched in April 2009. By summer, children all over the country were taking part in free outdoor activities all over England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/millionchildren
The Big Wildlife Garden web site is free for anyone of any age to join and is open to individuals, schools or community groups. They will be able to share ideas and pictures with other members of the Big Wildlife Garden and keep their own online wildlife diary. All content on the web site is fully monitored by Natural England before it is viewable by other web users.
Having teamed up with Eco-schools to encourage wildlife friendly gardening, The Big Wildlife Garden is also now engaging over 13,000 schools through the Eco-Schools biodiversity programme.
About Natural England
Natural England is the government’s independent advisor on the natural environment. Established in 2006 our work is focused on enhancing England’s wildlife and landscapes and maximising the benefits they bring to the public.
We establish and care for England’s main wildlife and geological sites, ensuring that over 4,000 National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are looked after and improved.
We work to ensure that England’s landscapes are effectively protected, designating England’s National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Marine Conservation Zones, and advising widely on their conservation.
We run England’s Environmental Stewardship green farming schemes that deliver over £400 million a year to farmers and landowners, enabling them to enhance the natural environment across two thirds of England’s farmland.
We fund, manage, and provide scientific expertise for hundreds of conservation projects each year, improving the prospects for thousands of England’s species and habitats.
We promote access to the wider countryside, helping establish National Trails and coastal trails and ensuring that the public can enjoy and benefit from them.
For further information contact: The National Press Office on 0845 603 9953, press@naturalengland.org.uk out of hours 07970 098005.
For further information about Natural England please visit: www.naturalengland.org.uk
