Pond dipping at Green Man Festival – Sarah Briggs
In the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and inspired by the habitat restoration on the Olympic Park, London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project Discovering Places has teamed up with Bristol Natural History Consortium to run an epic species hunt across the UK and wants people to get actively involved in the identification and surveying of UK wildlife.
During the next few months, members of the public, organisations and schools across the UK will be able to take part in a number of ways. Not only will staff at the Meet the Species HQ be organising a number of feature events throughout the UK, other organisations and wildlife groups will be putting on accredited Meet the Species events in their own communities. The team at Meet the Species HQ would like schools and organisations all across the UK to take part in the marathon hunt for everything from mini-beasts to sea mammals. Just like the ecologists at the Olympic park have been doing to ensure they monitor and protect the wildlife currently found on the park and to encourage more in the future, you could find yourself rock pooling, grass sweeping or bird spotting to warm up for the Olympic and Paralympics 2012 celebrations.
Scientific microscopes at Lollibop Children’s Festival – Frankie Hogan
Schools and colleges that participate in Meet the Species school activities also have the opportunity to be recognised by Get Set – London 2012 education initiative, with a plaque and certificate and will be granted the right to use the London 2012 education logo on their website, school/college sign and letterhead. Join the Get Set network and access exclusive rewards such as tours of the Olympic Park, and visits from athletes. Visit the Get Set London website to find out more.
Some activities already planned for this summer are –
- Uplands Manor Primary School, West Midlands, will be hosting a Meet the Species mini beast bug relay this April. They are set to kick start their year with this Olympic powered species hunt involving 700 pupils and expert naturalists to identify what species they will discover on their doorstop.T
- The Friends of Barclays Park, Hertfordshire, will be surveying the species before and after a lake restoration project to see the impact the work has on the wildlife. This will hopefully encourage some new species into the area which we can then tick off the list!
A speckled bush cricket found by a festival goer at Wilderness Festival – Ben Connor
Last summer, Meet the Species searched for wildlife at a series of feature events including activities such as guided walks, pond dipping, moonlit bat walks, moth traps, rock pooling, or just waiting to see what creatures found their way under the microscopes! The team is half way there to ticking off its 2012 target and will be keeping up the pace to discover the rest this spring and summer.
Meet the Species has brought together ideas and tools you can use to run your own species hunt in a downloadable Education pack available online with blogs and Twitter feeds to keep everyone up to date with what’s happening! You can find this and register your event online. The team can supply you with Meet the Species branding and goodies relevant to the scale of your event. The race is on!!
