World Art Day promotes creativity, innovation & diversity

  World Art Day, a celebration to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art, was proclaimed at the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019. Art nurtures creativity, innovation and cultural diversity for all peoples across the globe and plays an important role in sharing knowledge and encouraging curiosity and dialogue. These are qualities that art has always had, and will always have if we continue to support environments where artists and artistic freedom are promoted and protected. In...

Creature Feature : All About Beavers

  Today is International Beaver Day ….. Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver. Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras. Wikipedia __________   Beaver Reintroduction Project Since 2009, The Scottish Wildlife Trust have played a fundamental role in returning beavers to Scotland. From releasing the first wild beaver in 2009, to completing a reinforcement project in 2020, our work has led to this...

Environmental Days in April

  Some key dates coming up this month, which raise awareness of Nature and people….. World Health Day is April 7th – this year celebrating its 75th anniversary. More info – World Health Org. World Art Day is April 15th – a celebration to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art. More info here – World Art Day  World Heritage Day is April 18th – the day highlights the importance of and risks to our outstanding sites of World Heritage....

Earth Hour is March 25th _ are you ready??

Join the Biggest Hour for Earth on 25 March, 8:30 pm local time! Switch off & give an Hour for Earth by spending 60 minutes doing something good for our Planet  Earth Hour only asks people to turn off any non-essential lights for one hour – not lights that affect public safety. Earth Hour is also a celebration of the planet so It is important to enjoy the moment in a safe environment. Sat, Mar 25, 2023 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM...

Many plants are going extinct – yet thousands have no public images!

  From Conversation website For hundreds of years, botanists have collected plants to describe species and keep in herbaria across the world. But while physical plant specimens are irreplaceable, photographs of plants are also an invaluable resource for botanical research, conservation and education. Photographs of plants capture information that can be lost from dead, dried plants, such as flower colour. They also provide ecological context and form the cornerstone of many field guides and education resources. All plant species known...

Seaweek 2023 | Australia is a marine nation….

SeaWeek-Yearly-Generic-Poster-aqfzpl From Sat. 4 March – Sun. 12 March 2023….. SeaWeek is Australia’s major national public awareness campaign to focus community awareness, provide information and encourage an appreciation of the sea. SeaWeek gives us a fantastic opportunity to promote educational issues of relevance to the marine environment. SeaWeek events are organised and run by environmental and marine educators across the country. Australia is a marine nation. We have one of the largest ocean territories in the world, and it drives our...

Flooding | Auckland’s emergency: a lesson in geography

Auckland New Zealand floods …. Having spent several days hemmed in by a landslide, Professor John Morgan offers a ‘lesson plan’ for Auckland children returning to school to help them understand what’s going on in their city. “When Auckland schools go back, there’s a case to be made that geography teachers take over lessons for a day or two. Auckland’s ‘state of emergency’ – the floods and landslides that have affected the city and its region, and which will have...

International days for education & environment

Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. The lack of access to education for girls, for example, is a very real issue which Malala is active in advocating for change to. The World Environmental Education Day is 26 January – is an opportunity to highlight the importance of education to achieving environmental sustainability....

Creature Feature | the weta

The weta is a New Zealand insect – endemic to that country which means “found nowhere else” – it’s as old as… the dinasours! Wētā have become icons for invertebrate conservation in New Zealand because many species are threatened or endangered. There are more than 100 species of wētā in New Zealand, 16 of which are at risk. There are five broad groups of wētā: Tree wētā Ground wētā Cave wētā Giant wētā Tusked wētā Diet: Wētā are mainly herbivorous...

Friday Fact | World’s Strongest Animal

The strongest animal on Earth is no doubt the… elephant, however the hippopotamus is commonly sited one of the most dangerous due to bite and its generally aggressive tendencies. The strongest land animal in the world is the elephant. The typical Asian elephant has 100,000 muscles and tendons arranged along the length of the trunk, enabling it to lift almost 800 pounds. The gorilla, the strongest as well as largest primate on the planet, is at least six times stronger...

Nature Organisation | Zealandia leads the way as a city wildlife sanctuary

  Imagine a lush forest, home to over 40 rare species of native wildlife. Discover Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne – an ecosanctuary in the heart of Wellington. ZEALANDIA is the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary, with an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore a Wellington valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to their pre-human state. The 225 hectare (500+ acre) ecosanctuary is a groundbreaking conservation project that has reintroduced 18 species of native wildlife back into the area,...