Biodiversity

Biodiversity is all around us - from wildflowers and insects to mammals and birds. It includes woodlands, meadows, wetlands and other natural habitats, as well as man-made places such as plantations, fields, canals and gardens – even ‘wasteland’ can be valuable for wildlife.

Eco-Schools and the Big Wildlife Garden

The Big Wildlife Garden programme developed by Natural England can help you attract birds, butterflies, frogs and toads, as well as many other animals and plants, to your school garden.

2010 is International year of Biodiversity. If your school has identified biodiversity as its chosen theme, please register with the Big Wildlife Garden and get green fingers for wildlife!

The Big Wildlife Garden programme has been Eco-School ‘proofed’, which means that the points you earn count towards your Bronze, Silver or Green Flag award.

Why does Biodiversity matter?

Biodiversity affects our lives in many ways:

• We depend on a healthy natural environment for many things, from food and medicine to flood control and leisure.
• Evidence shows that contact with nature is good for our health and well-being. Natural green places provide natural solutions to many diseases – obesity and inactivity; heart disease and strokes; depression and mental illness.
• Green spaces are our insurance policy against the impacts of climate change. Trees, green roofs and public parks can make urban areas cooler and help reduce the risk of flooding, keeping homes and businesses dry.
• Towns and cities with trees, parks and other green spaces are shown to better attract and retain a workforce and draw in investment.

Although we depend on a healthy natural environment, many of our activities are damaging it. In the UK, urban development, intensive farming, increasing transport and pollution have all led to huge losses of many plants and animals.

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 159 countries signed the Biodiversity Convention, committing to “conserve the variety of animals and plants within their jurisdiction”, with further agreements made at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan was launched in 1994, as a nationwide framework for species and habitat conservation (www.ukbap.org.uk). It encourages local people and local organisations to work together to conserve biodiversity.

Biodiversity and schools

School grounds are ideal places to get children involved, in a hands-on way, with the natural environment. They offer a safe, practical and exciting opportunity for outdoor learning that can complement classroom-based activities.

Biodiversity provides direct links to the science curriculum, providing knowledge, skills and understanding across the key stages in the following areas:

• Life processes
• Humans and other animals
• Green plants
• Variation and classification, inheritance and evolution
• Living things in their environment

Further information

Lots of Eco-Schools choose to address biodiversity as part of their Action Plan. Visit Case Studies for more details on how other schools have used the Big Wildlife Garden to help them.

Visit Big Wildlife Garden to find out how to register.

Visit National Initiatives to find out about the importance of Learning Outside the Classroom, and how school grounds offer a creative and stimulating learning environment.

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