Wildlife conservation visits the Kelpies for Big Picnic Festival at Helix Park

15/08/2017 in RZSS

The Wild about Scotland bus paid a visit to Helix Park, Falkirk on Sunday 13 August, to take part in the Big Picnic Festival as part of the mobile classroom’s tour of the country, encouraging families to get on board with wildlife conservation.

The specially adapted bus travels across Scotland with a dedicated education team from conservation charity the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), teaching children about Scotland’s endangered native species and how to protect them.

The award-winning Wild about Scotland campaign has been made possible thanks to a partnership between RZSS and Clydesdale Bank, helping engage the next generation of conservationists.  It bringsthe expertise available at RZSS to communities that may otherwise be unable to benefit from it.

Ruth Fraser, Senior Education Officer at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: “The Kelpies have become an iconic landmark in Scotland and we were very excited to be visiting Helix Park for the Big Picnic Festival. The Wild about Scotland bus proved to be a hit with lots of people jumping on board to learn about native Scottish species and their conservation. We were delighted to be part of the event and bring visitors to the festival closer to the nature that is on their doorstep.”

During a busy day, visitors took part in a variety of interactive and fun activities focussing on Scottish native species, their habitats and environments. Topics included:

• ‘Minibeasts’ – Looking at the huge diversity of insects on earth and the variety which can be found in the local area.
• ‘Beavers and wildcats’ – Exploring the basic ecology of beavers and wildcats, the re-introduction of beavers into Scotland and what is being done to help save the Scottish wildcat.
• ‘Endangered animals’ – Focusing on the main threats to wildlife in Scotland and what personal action can be taken to help.

Since launching in 2014, the Wild about Scotland bus has celebrated many major milestones, visiting over 450 schools, across all 32 local Scottish authorities and engaging with more than 60,000 people in Scotland.

To see when the Wild about Scotland bus is visiting your local primary school, to request a visit and to access the Virtual Learning Environment(an online resource for ideas and activities to help support continued learning about native wildlife) please visit: http://www.rzss.org.uk/rzss-education/wild-about-scotland

 

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