Your patch, your planet

23 July 2019

WWT joins campaign encouraging all children to protect nature in their backyard

Backyard Nature is a new UK-wide campaign aiming to get all children, regardless of where they live, to spend more time outside enjoying and protecting nature in their backyards. We are pleased to be one of their recognised partners, encouraging children to become Backyard Nature Guardians by signing up at www.backyardnature.org

The campaign, including its partners, aim to give children the tools they need to protect their own patch of nature, regardless of how big or small their patch is. It could be a plant pot on a windowsill, a pond close to home, or a corner of outdoor space at school. What does matter is that they do something little and often to protect it. By tackling the nature crisis close to home, Backyard Nature Guardians will help protect the planet for the future.

A major focus of the campaign is also to promote the fantastic work already being done by conservation-focused NGOs, such as WWT, in engaging children with nature near where they live. WWT’s many resources and events for children will be shared on the Backyard Nature website, beginning with their Wetland Explorer log books and species spotter sheets.

Martin Spray, CEO of WWT, said

“WWT campaigns for a world where healthy wetland nature thrives and enriches lives. We have long recognised that to achieve this we need to encourage people from all walks of life to visit and be inspired by wetlands near to their home.

As such, we are delighted to be a partner of the Backyard Nature campaign.By tackling the nature crisis close to home, Backyard Nature Guardians will help protect the planet, including wetlands, for the future.”

Wetland Explorers

Wetland Explorers is being held during the summer holidays at six of WWT’s nine centres across the UK. At these events children can get outside in nature near where they live and take part in a series of intrepid ‘wild’ challenges. First step is to head to Explorer HQs and pick up a log book to be stamped as activities are completed. These activities, which vary between centres, include: