Day Four of Megan & Matt Go Wild!

Welcome to our joint-blogging series for the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild Challenge – you can read more about the campaign and ourselves in our introduction page.

(Matt, at a conference in Germany)

Dear negotiators,

Please take even just ten minutes to go Wild.

The reasons to prevent climate change are right under your noses. In the tiny patch of grass and trees squeezed in between the conference buildings, black redstarts flit to and from their nest. Blackbirds scour the lawn for worms, hopping among the daisies and buttercups.

Chiffchaffs and blue tits call from the trees and red squirrels hop and jump around. Wildlife (perhaps not this wildlife, but certainly species around the world) are on the front line of climate change now and in the future.

I paused for 20 minutes to sit outside and soak up the wildlife around us at this conference.

I wonder how many of those in suits, here to edit text, who stand only yards from where I was on cigarette breaks and having hushed exchanges of intelligence, notice the creatures right before them.

Sure, human rights, intergenerational justice and many other things are also sufficient reason to want to tackle climate change.

But nature should be near the top of that list too. So please, like I did, pause for a few moments and look around. It’s scientifically proven that a small break in nature reinvigorates our minds and bodies during a working day.

Then, return to the negotiating halls, hopefully carrying with you the memory of a small, furry, bouncy red squirrel.

(Megan, in coastal Dorset)

Unlike yesterday’s day at work, I wasn’t in the office for the whole day today. This time round, I actually spent most of it outside at Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve looking for minibeasts! We had a couple of local schools groups in – in the morning, I was looking under logs and on trees with Yr 1s and 2s. In the afternoon, I was looking in the pond with Reception.

Now pond dipping is absolutely one of my favourite activities to do with children – the underwater world is fascinating and it makes the children really think about how different habitats are and how animals need to be adapted for habitats. Plus, the animals look really groovy! In today’s session, my favourite finds were probably:

• baby newts, dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, diving beetle larvae and a currently unidentified creature – perhaps also the larvae of something?

If you are a usual follower of my blog, you will know how much I already love the pond at Lorton. It is incredibly calming to sit there for an hour or so after work – much better than getting caught up in the traffic! I am in the process of putting together various clips of the wildlife at the pond to go onto my YouTube channel in the near future. Below are some more of today’s photos from by the pond.