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Over two million square metres of school lands mapped to boost biodiversity
School grounds are one of the most under-recorded urban environments in the UK.
We’re aiming to change that. The National Education Nature Park programme want as many schools as possible to help increase the wellbeing of their students and boost the biodiversity on their land.
Children and young people across England are doing their bit to map and improve their school grounds.
The National Education Nature Park programme is designed to encourage and support all nurseries, schools and colleges to empower their students to engage with nature and take action to protect and improve it. Led by the Natural History Museum working with the Royal Horticultural Society and others, the programme is commissioned and funded by the Department for Education.
To date, more than 3,000 schools, nurseries and colleges are leading the way to turn their grounds from grey to green.
This has included a range of interventions. As a first step, young people use digital tools to map their land to better understand what habitats are already present. So far this covers over two million square metres across the education estates. This then allows young people to collectively plan how they will improve their sites to benefit both the students and nature.
For example, students at the Co-op Academy in Manchester worked to create a thriving green wall planted with ivy, lavender and mint. This new patch of greenery not only helped to transform what was once a concrete playground, but thermal imagery revealed that it also cooled the surface temperature of the buildings by 10°C in addition to providing food for pollinating insects.
The Education Nature Park programme wants to equip young people with the green skills needed for their future. Image credit Department for Education
“As well as connecting children and young people to nature, the programme is also vastly contributing to the understanding of the current condition of nature across the education estate,” explains Lucy Robinson, Community Science Manager and Deputy Head of the Centre for UK Nature at the Natural History Museum.
“School grounds cover a huge area of land but are one of the most under-recorded urban habitats in the country. As they continue to enhance the habitats on their sites, we’ll begin to see the impact young people are having on nature recovery across the country.”
It is hoped that the programme will increase young people’s wellbeing and help them to develop vital skills for their future in a rapidly changing world, all while boosting biodiversity across the country.
“All young people should be able to harness the benefits of spending time in nature, and the National Education Nature Park is making huge strides in breaking down the barriers so many face in accessing, understanding and interacting with the natural world,” says Stephen Morgan, the Minister for Early Education.
“This programme is helping improve wellbeing of young people and education staff, boosting biodiversity of the entire education estate and helping those involved develop green skills for the future.”
The ambition is to have schools, nurseries and colleges throughout England implementing some form of nature positive practice, to benefit both people and planet. Members of staff can sign up and log their setting's progress on the National Education Nature Park website.
