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RSPB Wildlife Explorers Liverpool
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Just one in five UK children connected to nature , groundbreaking study finds For the first time ever, a study to determine how
connected UK children are to nature has been carried out.
A three-year research project, undertaken by the RSPB,
found that only 21% of children in the UK have a level of connection to
nature that can be considered
realistic and achievable for all
children. The report s findings will be released at an
event at the Houses of Parliament tonight [16 October].
The report comes as a result of growing concerns over
generations of children with little or no contact with the natural world
and wildlife, which the RSPB believes is one of the biggest threats to
UK nature.
The new study shows there are statistically significant
differences between children s connection to nature at a national
level across the UK, as well as between boys and girls, and British urban
and rural
homes.
In May, 25 wildlife organisations, including the RSPB,
released the groundbreaking State of Nature report , which revealed 60 per cent of the wildlife species studied have
declined over
recent decades. The charity believes that ensuring young
people are connected to nature will mean they develop deeply-held
feelings and attitudes towards wildlife and the world we all live in,
and as a
result will care enough to help save it in the future.
Dr Mike Clarke, RSPB Chief Executive, will address MPs at
a reception tonight, where he will reveal the report s findings and
urge governments and local authorities to adopt this new
approach. He will
say: This report
is ground-breaking stuff. Millions of people are increasingly worried that today's children have less
contact with nature than ever before, but until now there has been no
robust scientific attempt to measure and track connection to
nature among children in the UK, which means the problem hasn t been
given the attention it deserves.
Nature is in
trouble, and children s connection to nature is closely linked to this. The recent State of Nature report shows
that nature in the UK is being lost at a dramatic rate. We can all take
action to put
nature back into childhood, to ensure young people have
better lives and a better future.
For the first
time, we have created a baseline that we and others can use to measure just how connected to nature the UK s
children really are. By adopting this new approach, we can all monitor
childrens connection and we are recommending that governments and
local authorities take action to increase it through policy and
practice decisions.
Over the last decade, a large amount of research has been
carried out into the diverse benefits for children of contact with
nature and outdoor experiences. These benefits include positive
impacts on education, physical health emotional wellbeing and
personal and social skills.
Evidence about the impact of an inactive and indoors
childhood has grown over the summer with the Chief Executive of the
British Heart Foundation calling for a return to the traditional outdoors childhood
The RSPB believes everyone, from governments to
organisations and individuals, has a role to play in connecting children to
nature, which is why it has signed up to The Wild Network. The Wild
Network is a
unique and pioneering collaboration between organisations
with an aim to let kids get back their wild time
and reverse the trend of children losing touch with the natural world and playing
outdoors.
In North West England, the RSPB has a number of nature
reserves offering a range of facilities and activities to
encourage children and their families to get more connected with nature. On 31 October, Leighton Moss at Silverdale is giving
children the opportunity to make a hedgehog hotel for their garden.
The reserve also
runs Nature Tots, a monthly interactive trail for
toddlers with the next event on 6 November.
The kind support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
and the University of Essex made this research possible.
Andrew Barnett, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation in the UK, says: We are
delighted to have supported this groundbreaking study. Robust evidence of children s connection with
nature will be a
powerful lever for change.
Find out what the RSPB is doing in North West England on
Facebook at RSPB North West England.
