Children and Nature.

The Wildlife Trust have started an initiative called Every Child Wild and it's based on a concept that I have a lot of feelings about.

I am a huge supporter of protecting our environment which is why I've studied it and I also stand by my opinion that humans are the worst thing to have happened to this planet. We have done an incomprehensible amount of damage to the earth in the short time we as a species have inhabited it. Before I get too deep into the negative I promise I'm not all doom and gloom, there is hope people! That hope lies with kids.

The idea that today's kids don't go outside very often is nothing new, but it's something I feel needs to change. And soon. With so much technology at our finger tips it's often considered the only way to entertain children. All this has led to a severe lack of understanding and appreciation for the environment right outside our doors.
Of course I love having the internet, TV, film and music readily available but when I was young these were luxuries not something I was constantly glued to (obviously now I'm a grown up I'm allowed to have an unhealthy, extremely dependent relationship with my phone and laptop....).

Some of my best memories from childhood are the ones where I was outside and in nature. Most days I would be out of the house and my parents would take us on walks to the parks and woods nearly every weekend - TV was only really there for when the whether wouldn't allow us to be outside. (FYI the picture in the title image is of one of my favourite places, the woods near my house has for as long as I can remember had this "dragon" log. I used to sit on it and was convinced it was once a real flying dragon and had been turned into wood by magic.)

These kids are the ones who will soon be in control of the future of the earth and the idea that they could go into that future completely blind to the needs of nature is terrifying. Knowledge is key and let's be honest kids will only learn if they are interested and they are fully immersed so we need to make it fun and engaging! Sitting them down and droning on about how shit the current state of the planet is isn't going to enthuse them to take action, in fact it's pretty damn depressing.
Get them out there, let them experience all the beauty that the earth has to offer, only then will children realise what we stand to lose.... and actually care about it. Even if it encourages them to make the simplest changes like recycling more or planting vegetables in the garden when they're older it matters. The smallest changes can have the biggest impacts.

I stand by this campaign to get the young'uns out and about. Get excited, get muddy, get dirty and get MAD about the environment.

x

I have opinions on fox hunting.

So I wasn't sure whether to make a post about this but I realised that it's something that I feel pretty darned strongly about so why shouldn't I discuss it on my blog?

If you haven't heard or are not from the UK our prime minister Mr Cameron is potentially bringing back the hunting of foxes using large packs of dogs.... without actually having to go through the effort of fully re-legalising it.

I won't go into loads of detail or preach mode about why I don't agree with this because it's not my place to tell you what to think or feel about this situation. The only thing I want to do is let people know if they were unaware or perhaps make others that weren't all that bothered about it think a little more.

Fox hunting is extremely barbaric, archaic and ineffective. The main excuse used for taking part in this activity (I refuse to call it a sport, sports are for equals to compete with fair advantages.) is to control the fox population - more foxes die on the roads than through this form of hunting. It's an inhumane way to remove these animals and often completely deranged in how they go about it. Foxes will be moved from one area to another so they are confused and lost, they will be chased to exhaustion even when they are far enough to not be a concern and vixens are ripped apart even though they rarely come in contact with humans or civilisation - they are also killed whilst carrying pups.

If you want to know more I suggest this article where a former hunter gives his some what altered thoughts and clearly knows more than I do.

If you have any opinions on this please feel free to share them in the comments.

I believe MPs will be voting and making a decision tomorrow, so if you feel the same way as me and wish to do something about it please write to your local MP - you can find yours here.

x