Nature project to carry on after £500,000 boost
ASCHEME that helps to get young people in Cardiff in touch with the natural world has been assured for another five years thanks to £500,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.
RSPB Cymru’s Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff project, in partnership with Cardiff council and Buglife Cymru, can now continue to help thousands of young people to spend more time with nature in Cardiff until 2022.
Since 2014, the project has been busy engaging children and families with wildlife across Cardiff, from the wildflower meadows of Forest Farm to the wilderness of Flat Holm Island.
It has provided free outreach sessions to more than 60% of Cardiff primary schools, engaging 13,600 children with nature.
It has helped communities in 90% of Cardiff wards to spend more time with wildlife through free family events, and worked with local volunteers who’ve donated 3,600 hours of their time to help engage communities with nature in the city.
Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff project manager Carolyn Robertson said: “We now know that sadly, only one child in every eight in Wales is reasonably connected with the natural environment and one in every 14 species in Wales is facing extinction.
“This, without question, is cause to continue the vital work achieved through Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff.
“Thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, we’re delighted that we can now enable even more families across the city to discover the wildlife on their doorstep – inspiring them to take action to not only support nature but to treasure it for years to come.”
The £500,000 is from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s People and Places programme, Rona Aldrich, Wales committee member for the Big Lottery Fund, said: “Programmes like People and Places are making a difference to the lives of so many people in communities across Wales.”
Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff aims to engage a further 50,000 children and their families with nature in the city by 2022 and deliver free outreach sessions in all Cardiff primary schools to help pupils discover the wildlife in their schools grounds.
The project is also establishing a partnership with Buglife Cymru’s Cardiff Urban Buzz project to increase pollinator friendly habitats across the city.
Clare Dinham, Wales conservation officer from Buglife Cymru, said: “Cardiff is a great city for anyone who loves nature and boasts some stunning green spaces.
“It is also home to Bute Park, one of the largest urban parks in Wales – lending itself perfectly as one of our cities taking part in the Urban Buzz project.”
Councillor Bob Derbyshire, Cardiff council cabinet member for environment, said: “The project has already been incredibly successful, attracting 77,000 visitors to Bute Park since it began in 2014 and holding numerous free family events across the city, so it’s great news that, thanks to the Big Lottery Fund, we’re going to be able to help even more families identify with our wildlife and enjoy the benefits of spending time in the great outdoors.”
Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff will be funded by Tesco customers through the Welsh carrier bag levy until March 31, after which it will be funded by the Big Lottery Fund until 2022.
The project’s schools outreach work will be funded by Aldi, through the UK carrier bag levy, until 2019.