Ryan out to get youngsters to protect environment

A Blantyre teenager has joined a bold, new national youth advisory group to lead the discussion about how young people can be part of protecting and making the most of Scotland’s natural environment.

Ryan Mcdonagh (17) is part of Reroute, a group of young people aged 13-23 who, with the help of Scottish Natural Heritage and Young Scot, aim to meet Scotland’s ambitions as a green nation.

Ryan has just finished his final year at St John Ogilvie High School and is hoping to study environmental planning in the future. He has joined the youth advisory group to engage young people across Scotland and highlight the benefits on nature.

As part of the three-year partnership, Ryan will encourage young people to contribute towards improving biodiversity and act as an advocate for the natural environment at a local, regional and national level.

He will also encourage young people across the area to enjoy the outdoors.

At the end of the project, Ryan and the other Reroute members will make recommendations to Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Government on how to effectively engage young people in nature and Scotland’s natural environment.

Ryan said:“i’m really excited to be involved with Reroute – it’s a great way to develop new skills, gain experience and get young people in South Lanarkshire passionate about nature. I’m looking forward to working with the other group members to build greater awareness of Scotland’s natural environment.”

In a recent nature survey conducted by Young Scot, 89 per cent of young people considered nature and the outdoors important and 74 per cent of the participants said they would like to learn more about it.

As a result, Ryan and the other group members across the country will work together to design exciting new rewards to encourage young people to engage with Scotland’s natural environment.

Reroute are currently looking for more young people to join them. Anyone interested should visit young. scot or snh.gov.uk.