MSc Conservation Biology student, Kieran Richardson writes about his passion for nature and wildlife ahead of the BioBlitz taking place on Saturday 29 May.
I’ve been interested in nature and wildlife for as long as I can remember and running off to the woods was my favourite pastime as a kid. I find green spaces and the biodiversity living in them are very important to my mental wellbeing and have proven especially useful throughout the pandemic.
An event such as this BioBlitz is a great way to connect with local wildlife and other people who are interested in it. There are so many brilliant green spaces around campus, home to fascinating animals, plants and fungi, but so many people don’t realise much of it is there.
“Nature can and does help us out in so many ways, but these are all too often overlooked.”
In this time of biodiversity loss, with wild species and wild places disappearing faster than ever, it’s doubly sad that many people don’t realise what it is that’s disappearing. An event like this is a brilliant opportunity not only to collect data that can enable us to monitor and hopefully prevent wildlife declines but also for us all to notice the nature around us, right on our doorstep.
‘The Wild’ isn’t some distant faraway thing, biodiversity isn’t some abstract concept, it’s all right here, and sadly, so is biodiversity loss. How are we going to protect local biodiversity if we don’t know or care about it?
So come along to the BioBlitz, meet your wild neighbours, and find out what you can do to help them out.
- Date: Saturday 29th May 2021
- Time: 8am-8pm
- Event details: www.facebook.com/swgbioblitz