Back to school is certainly a hot topic at the moment, and my household is no exception. Alongside my own children starting a new school year this week, I’m delighted to share the news that through the Wildlife Blogger Crowd book, Connections With Nature, we’ve been able to support Talek Mixed Day & Boarding Primary School in Narok, Kenya, by donating to the school their first laptop! You may remember that through Wildlife Blogger Crowd member Jack Lekishon, and with your generous support, I made a donation of multiple copies our book to their School Library (ASTRID Library) back ..read more

I can’t believe I’m actually able to write this, but earlier this week, my ‘Connections With Nature’ project WON the WeNaturalists Nature Storyteller of the Year award. Now, I’ve been nominated for a few awards over the 11 years that I’ve been blogging, but this is the first time I’ve actually won! After being Highly Commended a couple of times, and ‘Judges’ first runner-up’, a friend once joked; “it’s like you’re always the bridesmaid, never the bride.” Well, stick a veil on me and pass the champers! While it’s wonderful to have been the face of this project, it’s not really a ‘me’ win this ..read more

The Whitley Fund for Nature is now accepting applications for their flagship prizes from effective, mid-career conservation leaders who are working in their home country in the Global South. Whitley Award winners receive £40,000 in project funding; professional communications and media training; and PR assistance for winners to gain international profile. The call for applications comes at a time when global trends show that grassroots conservation groups are often shut out of major environmental finance, despite being increasingly recognised as key to protecting nature. Through their award wi ..read more

Did you know that half of all British butterflies are now on the Red List, which means they’re either threatened or ‘near threatened’ with extinction? In this guest blog post, Wildlife expert Sean McMenemy, director at Ark Wildlife, shares his tips for attracting butterflies for this year’s ‘Big Butterfly Count’, which runs until August 7… How to make endangered butterflies feel welcome in your garden In the last 11 years, there has been a 26% increase in the number of threatened butterfly species, driven by factors such as habitat loss, pollution and climate change. To raise awareness of the ..read more

In light of a new report released this month examining the welfare of elephants in captivity, Lorraine Platt shares this guest blog post highlighting the shortcomings of keeping elephants in zoos… Why elephants and zoos simply aren’t compatible Elephants are magnificent animals, the world’s largest land animal and a truly iconic species. Their complex social and family structures, and their deep levels of emotional intelligence are fascinating. Some of us are fortunate enough to have had the joy of seeing these animals in the wild, roaming across open plains, foraging, and acting as one of th ..read more

Black-tailed godwits are large, migratory wading birds that breed in wetland landscapes across Europe, Siberia and  Australia, the Indian Subcontinent, West Africa and parts of Western Europe. They are categorised as near threatened on the IUCN Red List, and their breeding success has been hampered in the UK by the draining of wetland habitat, to be used instead for agriculture. The UK’s first Black-Tailed Godwit headstarting project Recently, I was invited to view the UK’s first headstarting project for black-tailed godwits, as it reaches the end of its 5-year trial (extended over 6 ..read more

You may have heard of 30 Days Wild through social media; you may even follow the hashtag: #30DaysWild, but if you’ve yet to get involved, or you’d like some fresh ideas for how to take part this year, here’s all you need to know… What is 30 Days Wild? 30 Days Wild is The Wildlife Trusts’ annual challenge where participants are challenged to do one wild thing a day, every day, for an entire month. It’s the UK’s biggest nature challenge, with more than a million participants to date. People are invited to sign-up and try one ‘random act of wildness’ every day, for the entirety of June, and have ..read more

An exciting new GCSE in Natural History will officially be introduced by September 2025, an announcement from Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed today. The new GCSE is the result of a long term campaign, spear-headed by naturalist Mary Colwell, to address the gap in natural history content in education.  With a background in education, and a passion for Natural History, I’m personally delighted to hear the announcement made official today. I first wrote about the campaign and shared a petition 5 year ago — which can be read here. My own experience of delivering a N ..read more

Although the weather may not seem to agree with us here in the UK, Spring is finally upon us – and now is the ideal time to support our nesting bird species. For this guest blog post, Sean McMenemy from Ark Wildlife explains how we can help our feathered friends find their perfect love nest and produce baby birds that thrive. Save our baby birds this spring by building ‘love nests’, urges UK wildlife expert The odds are always stacked against baby birds, who must learn to fly, feed and develop predator awareness to survive leaving the nest. According to the RSPB, only 37% of blue tits make it ..read more

I’m delighted to share that, the Eastern Daily Press was kind enough to dedicate an entire double page spread to sharing the story of our ‘Connections With Nature‘ book! Excitingly, in recent weeks the project has had support from Sir David Attenborough, Gordon Buchanan, and Chris Packham who called it a “fantastic, collaborative, beautiful book” on social media.   The below extract is taken from the Eastern Daily Press interview feature with Emma Lee: [Connections With Nature] includes pieces by Joe Harkness, author of the book Bird Therapy. The foreword is written by Jonathan ..read more