#627: Canal and River Trust

I've blogged about this organisation previously, and also my liking for Robbie Cumming's 'slow' exploration of the UK in Canal Boat Diaries (available to stream on 'U' channel and app.) Earlier series are also shown on iPlayer.

The Canal and Rivers Trust don't just look after the network, they are also concerned about the biodiversity that is sustained by it.

Image: Canal basin, Wakefield - Alan Parkinson - shared on Flickr under CC license

#626: Octavia Hill

Another person on the list of people who students studying the course should be introduced to is Octavia Hill.

Octavia Hill tried to improve access to nature for the people of the UK. In doing so, she was one of three founders of the National Trust.

Image copyright: National Trust.

Founding the charity in 1895, she said she believed that “the healthy gift of air and the joy of plants and flowers” were vital in everyone’s life.

The National Trust wants city dwellers to be given more access to nature.

#625: Angie Lewin: 'Plants and Places'

Angie Lewin's prints are usually of natural forms, particularly inspired by coastal locations. She has produced quite a lot of work over the years, and continues to be productive and creative, with prints, home furnishings and fabrics, greetings cards and other items. 

She has also been involved in the creation of a few books of her work. 

I have a copy of Angie's book 'Plants and Places' on my shelves, and other bits of her work.

I also own one of her limited edition etching prints. 

It's one of her sea plant prints and sits on the wall in my lounge. 

#624: Scolt Head Island

I recently spent an overnight at the White Horse at Brancaster Staithe. 

It's recommended as a hotel to stay in.

The pub has a marsh bar down by the salt marsh. From there you can see the low hills of Scolt Head Island.

Scolt Head Island lies just off the North Norfolk Coast.

This would make a great field study location for coastl ecosystems work and investigations.

Baz Scampion has created this website about the island.

The island is accessible by ferry.

The island is a National Nature Reserve, which limits the activity that can take place there. A good example of landscape management.

Image: Sea lavender on the salt marsh at Brancaster Staithe.

#623: Big Butterfly Count

The Big Butterfly Count is now underway. Organised by the Butterfly Conservation charity, this is an annual Citzen Science opportunity for students. 

This starts in mid July - some schools will still be working, but this may need to be set as a holiday (or perhaps a pre-task for those who will be starting their GCSE courses in the following September - or between Years 10 and 11)

We will be aiming to produce a resource of this nature - a sort of summer preparation pack of activities to help introduce some key natural history skills for students so they can get up to speed with what to expect.

Download a butterfly ID check sheet here. (PDF download)

I'll be taking part between now and the end date in August.

#622: Sierian Sumner on eco-literacy

Sierian Sumner has written a useful post for 'The Conversation'.

She works at UCL.

The article makes some useful points about the GCSE Natural History and its draft subject content which is up for consultation.

#621: Wildlife Crime

Wildlife crime is an important issue.

Wildlife crime is any activity that goes against legislation protecting the UK's wild animals and plants. It can cause pain and suffering to animals, push species closer to extinction and can be linked to other serious crimes like firearms offences and organised crime.

Examples include:

• Hare coursing
• Using dogs to hunt wild mammals
• Poisoning of animals, such as birds of prey
• Disturbing or killing wild birds; or taking their eggs
• Poaching of game, venison and fish
• Disturbing, injuring or killing bats, and damaging or obstructing their roosts
• Smuggling protected species and their parts (such as tortoises, rhino horn, ivory and caviar)
• Illegally trading in endangered species
• Taking protected plants from the countryside.

Country Watch Dorset is one of the organisations that is aiming to protect local wildlife from persecution and negative impacts.

#620: Prairie - Candace Savage

This looks like being particularly good. I'm really keen on books like this which promise to tell the human history of physical / natural regions / biomes.

I will look to get this out of the library and add it to the blog once I've had the chance to read it.

#619: Tweet of the Day

This BBC Sounds feature has many episodes.

Each one tends to focus on a species of bird, or something that may connect with birdlife. There is a large range of people who have contributed their voice to a programme, so plenty to catch up here, and they feature some of the species that appear on the lists of birds mentioned in the draft subject content.

#618: BBC - Evolution - Series 1

The BBC's new Evolution series is now up and running.

Evolution is co-produced by The Open University and the BBC, and supported by leading OU academics specialising in evolution, ecology and the history of life on Earth.

Through Chris Packham's journey, the series explores the extraordinary story of life on our planet, from humble origins to the complex creatures we see today, shaped in surprising ways by the unstoppable force of evolution.

A free OU poster is available.

The series has good reviews.

#617: Stewardship

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."

1 Peter 4:10

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/14/church-of-england-votes-against-rewild-land-2030

The Government's own plan is less than ideal.

#616: No two alike...

We are often told that no two snowflakes are alike. Is that really the case?

That statement is largely based on some work done by the photographer 'Snowflake' Bentley in the 19th Century who used innovative photography techniques to capture snowflakes before they 

#615: OPAL

The OPAL resources are hosted by Imperial College.

I have several of these in physical format.

OPAL is the Open Air Laboratory.

Check them out

#614: Carbon Cycle piece from Professor Sylvia Knight

Via LinkedIn.

I'm delighted that my Solutions-Focussed Climate Education article has appeared in this month's edition of The Association for Science Education's School Science Review and is open access.

Access it here (PDF download)

Inspired by a recent post by Katharine Hayhoe, the article uses simplified carbon cycle diagrams to explore various climate change adaptation and mitigation options, with clear links to the science (and maybe future Natural History GCSE?) curriculum.

#613: Merlin app helping conservation efforts

I've mentioned the Merlin ID app before on the blog. It will be a very useful resource for all those teaching the GCSE Natural History.

The Guardian had an article this weekend on the value of the app for identifying species which are threatened.

#612: Heal the Land

Heal the Land is a new film which was showcased at an RGS Summer film night.

From the website:

Heal the Land is a compelling, inspiring and hopeful film about the transformation of a former intensive dairy farm in Somerset into a thriving new place for nature and people.

This beautiful 25-minute documentary, filmed entirely at the Heal Somerset site during 2024, is a journey of drama, discovery and insight into the start of this rewilding journey. 

The film features astonishing new arrivals, a remarkable array of wildlife and insightful commentary from experts and the Heal team. Above all, it shows the extraordinary resilience of nature and how quickly wildlife comes back if we give it space and allow it to thrive. With England currently one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth, the challenge to restore biodiversity and kickstart nature recovery has never been more urgent.

The trailer is shown below:

#611: Deer Stalkers needed

Via my Google Alert.

The Daily Telegraph has connected the new specification with a conservation need. There are millions of deer in the countrysde, and when there are too many and they aren't managed this can lead to damage to trees, hedgerows and habitat for birds. There is a suggestion that more young people should be trained in deer management methods.

Charles Smith-Jones, of the Brit­ish Deer Soci­ety, said: “The interest is out there, and it’s a ques­tion of devel­op­ing the enthu­si­asms, and then cre­at­ing the oppor­tun­it­ies.”

He noted that there was a new nat­ural his­tory GCSE, which might help raise aware­ness, adding: 

“I hope the GCSE goes bey­ond ‘isn’t wild­life lovely’ and looks at the real­it­ies of con­ser­va­tion, and what we need to do to main­tain a bal­ance of deer in the coun­tryside.”

It's an interesting perspective... I wonder whether the final subject content and specification will allow for such discussions to take place.

#610: Wild Future - RSPB

The RSPB's magazine is a good resource for Natural History. It would be worth having an RSPB subscription for the geography department. This would

The RSPB were one of the original supporters of the GCSE Natural History and may be planning some support for schools that are offering the qualification.

It would be nice to think that schools offering the qualification would perhaps be able to take their group of GCSE Natural History students to their local RSPB reserve for a reduced (or free) entry fee perhaps?

 This could also work for other organisations working in the same sort of area.

#609: Traffic noise and baby birds...

We know that traffic noise causes harm to human health.

It increases stress levels, and the associated air pollution affects air quality.

This piece from April 2024 explains how it also damages nature and forces birds to sing louder.

Noise from traffic stunts the growth of baby birds.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license

#608: Peatland restoration

Some years ago, I worked with a researcher to translate their work into the classroom. 

It was written for the RGS-IBG's From the Field project.

The work looked at how peat moorlands recovered after fires. There have been a number of fires in the Peak District and such fires are becoming more common with high temperatures and drought conditions.

Aims

Once a heathland ecosystem has been damaged by fire, it can take many years to become re-established. Like any area of vegetation, relationships become established between the plants and the animals that inhabit them, and across the trophic levels that make up the network ecology.

Rose’s work is to explore the mechanisms for the restoration of pollination, and the extent to which this has been successful over time. As an area recovers from fire, it will also move through the stages of plant succession: a process which will have been arrested by the fire.

This is essential if the ecosystem is going to recover. The restored heathland network tends to have a different structure to the ancient heathland, with fewer interactions between the plants, bees and parasites that live on the bees.

The work was funded by Goldsmiths Company.