Between 26th and 30th June, a Glastonbury Festival event involving conservationists from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) will help contribute to the future of woodland in the UK.
Now in its fourth year, the Sex & Bugs & Rock ‘n Roll project highlights scientific and environmental matters to the general public at popular UK summer events and music festivals.
This year the focus is woodlands and climate change and the project is designed to give visitors the opportunity to understand how climate change could affect woodlands and the animals that live there.
One of the ‘headline’ events for the Glastonbury 2019 project is a game that will help researchers find out why people love woodlands. They will be asking festival-goers to create their ideal woodland using a selection of tree species, animals and woodland plants. Conservationists from DICE, including Professor Zoe Davies and Dr Robert Fish, and the Lancaster Environment Centre will then evaluate the images to find out which aspects of woodland diversity are important to people. For each person who plays the game, Wytham Woods will plant an acorn from an ancient oak tree at Wytham Park near Oxford.
Sex & Bugs & Rock ‘n Roll is led by the University of Lancaster, with the universities of Kent, Oxford and Exeter, the Met Office, the New Phytologist Trust, the Field Studies Council and the Forestry Commission all supporting the initiative.
Professor Davies, who has helped shape the event, said, “The Sex & Bugs & Rock ‘n Roll tour is a fantastic way to engage the public with major scientific issues in a fun, informative and engaging manner in a great setting. We hope as many people as possible will come along.”
Sex & Bugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll will be in the Glastonbury Festival’s Green Futures Field, 26–30 June.