Northumberland Schools to lead UK in new Biodiversity Project
Two Northumberland schools, Lindisfarne Middle School and Long Houghton First School are to be the first schools in the UK to pilot the Tarmac Schools Biodiversity Challenge.
'Participation in the challenge will enable schools to create and manage a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for their school grounds. Tarmac will provide assistance in implementing and managing the BAP's.
The challenge is being launched by David Bellamy at Alnwick Castle on Friday 25 January and all children taking part have been invited. The schools will each receive a trophy commemorating their pioneering role in the project along with a selection of spades, forks, rakes, hoes and other tools to help them get started. The children will also participate in a podcast being recorded by David Bellamy on the day, which is intended for use as an educational resource nationwide.
Cllr Jim Wright, Executive Member for children's Services at Northumberland County Council said: "I'm very proud that Northumberland schools have led the way in this ground-breaking project. It's just one of the ways Northumberland County Council is supporting schools in caring for and learning about their environment."
Both schools have submitted detailed plans for creating wildlife habitats in their school grounds with the aim of attracting birds, animals, insects and other species native to Northumberland. A properly created habitat can support a wide range of wildlife, including species of conservation concern, such as skylarks, red squirrels and bats.
In preparing their BAP, the children surveyed the grounds of their schools, identifying areas where hedgerows, wildflower beds, ponds, shrubberies, vegetable patches and bird boxes could be created. The children have also planned how they will manage the new habitats once they have been created and how to spot and identify species which the habitats will attract.
The Tarmac Schools Biodiversity challenge was the brainchild of Mike Young, Tarmac's Northumberland Estates Manager in 2007 after Tarmac Northumberland became the first county in Britain to complete BAP's for all its sites.
Mike said "quarry sites are ideal places for biodiversity and already host a wide variety of wildlife. As we will be implementing BAP's at all our quarries in Northumberland over the next few years, it seemed like a good idea to extend the idea into the community by providing assistance for participating schools in creating their own BAP's".
To further assist the schools, visits to local quarries will be organised, so that the children can see for themselves how Tarmac are implementing their BAPs. In addition, David Bellamy is recording a podcast 'The Children's Guide' to Biodiversity', which will be available to teachers and children all over the UK in the future.
Nicola Foy, Science Co-ordinator at Long Houghton First School said "this is a very engaging project for the children, who have already learnt a lot about biodiversity in preparing the BAP proposal. The children are very enthusiastic and looking forward to spotting extra wildlife in the playground. The project is also excellent in that it fulfils some of the requirements of the national curriculum."
When the Northumberland pilot study is complete, Tarmac will be using the findings as a guide to extending the Schools Biodiversity Challenge to other areas in the UK.
See Environment within our Report to Society
For further information please Contact PR.
28 January 2008
