Connecting more children with nature in Glasgow
What’s your first memory of the outdoors? I remember grasshoppers covering a picnic blanket as we sat in a meadow! Later when I was 8 or 9, I used to hunt for birds nests and I am sorry to admit I took the odd egg, but even more importantly I can remember finding a chiff-chaffs nest (I was 11), and looking at the tiny egg, and putting it back into the domed nest. I never took an egg again. Later still I watched people ringing birds at a bird observatory. I was hooked and my dream of working as a conservationist has come true, with my career at the RSPB.
Children need nature. Connection to nature, and those outdoor experiences have important benefits for health, well-being and learning. The wonder children experience when they see a wild creature cannot be replicated by books or TV programmes.
Last Autumn the RSPB and the University of Essex published the Connecting with Nature report that, for the first time ever, measured the level of children’s connection to nature across the UK. Although children in Scotland were considered more connected to nature than their peers elsewhere, it is clear from the results that there is still a long way to go in fostering a love and respect for wildlife and nature, particularly among children growing up in more urban areas. Our cities have green spaces, but its difficult for children to find the wildlife safely and confidently.
That’s why RSPB Scotland and many other organisations including John Muir Trust, Scouts Scotland and many local authorities and schools are working hard to develop opportunities to engage with the natural world, wherever you are in the country.
I am delighted that the brand new Giving Nature a Home in Glasgow initiative is doing just that in Scotland’s biggest city. Although Glasgow is home to more than a million people, it’s rich variety of green spaces, from parks to community gardens, can serve as a gateway to the wonders of our natural environment.
By improving these environments and building homes for nature from hedgehog houses to nest boxes, to cleaning up waterways and feeding garden birds, we will be making more space for nature to thrive. Who knows perhaps the grasshoppers will make a comeback!
Community groups, schools and public bodies will all be encouraged to take part, and members of the public can get involved by making space and building homes for nature in their own gardens, local parks or by volunteering. We are delighted that Woodlands Community Garden, Children’s Wood and Govan Hill Baths are already involved, and initial work has seen new homes for wildlife created in Glasgow’s Botanical Gardens, as well as the planting of 100 trees at Dawsholm Park. With assistance from Grow Wild, project staff and volunteers will also be planting flower meadows and living walls within school grounds, and creating a wildflower art installation.
Ten schools across Glasgow are also involved, and within these, six will be acting as ambassadors for priority species, including Hillhead School, whose pupils will be championing bumblebees. Check out their fantastic handy work transforming a car as part of the city’s Mardi Gras festival at the start of June!
RSPB Scotland and project staff will be hosting a brand new wildlife gardening festival in the city in September to celebrate the hard work of everyone involved and hopefully inspire even more people to give nature a home in Glasgow. I hope to see you there.