Welcome to the Bug - what I hope will be a weekly update on 'what's what' in the zeitgeist that exists between the realms of wildlife conservation efforts and the growing environmental education movement in the UK.
And certainly this movement is growing (although the recent budget cuts sadly trimmed it back a bit). Forest Schools, Eco-schools, NGO-led environmental education initiatives, projects, resources, local authority schemes and environmental funding, Learning Outside of the Classroom... The list is long, nebulous and, well, a bit daunting (is this just me?).
This blog will (I hope) condense this information into a weekly digest for you to pick out the relevant bits, so that you (the reader) can be better armed for inspiring others into nature conservation.
As you've read this far, I'm guessing I don't need to explain to you that this is important stuff: encouraging the next generation to get the 'nature bug' is vital in the long-term conservation of UK wildlife, and their habitats. We all know that. It leads to more future field ecologists, more teachers, more lab scientists, more policy wonks - all of which will, arguably, have an even more crucial role in future. Plus there's the bycatch: as well as creating future world-changers, good environmental education creates fleets of young people capable of being warmed by nature, not fearful of it. You knew that though!
So sign up (you can get this direct to your inbox by adding your email address on the right), sit back and I look forward to filling you in on the latest.
Many of us have the wildlife bug. I hope this blog can pull out the tools to help us spread it. More soon...
