Earthwatch: Nature in schools |
Earthwatch Europe has been successfully working with many schools across the UK to plant Tiny Forests on their grounds and beyond, in close by public areas. These offer a wildlife-rich space on school sites for enhanced outdoor learning and play.
A Tiny Forest is a dense fast-growing native woodland, typically made up of 600 trees planted in a tennis-court sized plot of 200m2. The forests are not only an attractive location for wildlife, but for people as well, and can provide a range of benefits in the fight against climate change. Tiny Forest uses a planting method developed in the 1970s by Japanese botanist, Dr Akira Miyawaki, to encourage accelerated forest development.
However, we know many schools don’t have space for a Tiny Forest. We are therefore exploring appetite for other types of nature features (i.e. nature-based solutions such as edible hedgerows, orchards, bush planters, ponds) to enhance school grounds.
What benefits would this bring your school?
- Connection to nature: Creation of a nature-rich space within school grounds that can be used as an inspiring outdoor classroom to support students’ connection with nature and environmental education, offering opportunities for students to get hands-on.
- Teacher CPD: Earthwatch webinar introducing teachers and educators to nature-based solutions and how to engage students in experiential outdoor learning connected to the national curriculum (with free teacher and student resources).
- STEM Enrichment: Guidance for teachers and educators on how to use the space/feature for citizen science monitoring, enabling students to track its environmental benefits, including e.g. biodiversity.