Hey Blog! For the whole of June the Wildlife Trusts run a campaign to get people outside and enjoying nature. It’s called… 30 Days Wild! So that’s my focus for today!
30 Days Wild is a simple, accessible, family-friendly and fun program. Since it started in 2015, around two million people have joined in, which is great! You don’t need to have books, a bird hide in your garden (Though the Home Ed Shed doubles excellently as just that!) or even know a blackbird from a robin. Basically, anyone can take part, as all you need to do is complete one “Random Act of Wildness” every day. These can range from rescuing a bumblebee to seeing an orca off the coast of Scotland, and everywhere in between.
Today, my ‘Random Act of Wildness’ has been seeing a weasel (the smallest mustelid in the UK, as long as a thirty-centimetre ruler) cross the road in front of us, but that’s not the kind of thing you get every day! Usually it’s more normal, such as getting close up to cormarants and house martins while out sailing on my RYA level 2 (look at my post “Ahoy There!” for information on that) or watching BBC 2’s Springwatch, which finished last night. Springwatch is a program dedicated to bringing viewers “the best of British wildlife”, which they often do with a lot of funny models and jokes along the way. This year, the best has been Chris Packham’s bubble-blowing cardboard abdomen made to show how froghopper babies, also known as spittlebugs, make their own cocoons – pushing air through anal fluid, which quite literally means blowing bubbles out your bum. Wish I could do that! Although the two are not related, all the presenters of Springwatch support 30 Days Wild, as it inspires young people to be a part of nature, not a separate entity. I too believe this is important – we must use nature to fix our crisis, both climatic and economic, and if we do not know nature, we cannot use it.
If you wish to take part, go to https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30dayswild, where you can find how to join in. Unfortunately it’s after the first of June, so you might be a little late, but you can always sign up for next year. In your order pack you will get a wallchart for recording what you do and a packet of seeds. The seeds are for planting to attract pollinators, one of the most important types of insects. Did you know pollinators do for free what would cost billions of pounds a year?! Or that we’ve lost thirteen of our UK bee species since 1900? All the fruit we eat is directly related to pollination, and the loss of any pollinators is deeply worrying both economically and environmentally.
I hope everyone is taking or planning to take part in 30 Days Wild, as we need to take care of our planet, our nature, and ourselves.