The Duchess of Cambridge is backing a nationwide drive to get children to connect with nature and become conservation activists.
A major advocate for helping children access outdoor space to improve their development, Kate told how “nature can play a pivotal role in helping children grow up to become happy, healthy adults”.
The campaign ‘Backyard Nature’ – fronted by group of children from Anfield, Liverpool – will encourage and support children to spend a million hours outdoors to learn about their environment and take action to safeguard the planet.
A new poll suggests that 82% of parents are concerned about future environmental challenges faced by their children, and the limited amount of time their children spend outdoors.
The Duchess said: “Spending time in nature can play a pivotal role in helping children grow up to become happy, healthy adults.
“The great outdoors provides an open playground for children to have fun and learn life-long skills – from balance and coordination to empathy and creativity – with their friends, their parents, their carers, or their family members.
“I hope the Backyard Nature campaign inspires children, families and communities to get outside and engage with nature, wherever they live.”
Mum-of-three Kate, 37, was seen having fun on Wednesday supporting her husband William at a charity polo match against his brother Harry’s team.
The royal couple’s children, Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, four, and Prince Louis, one, all played together in the adjoining fields, even playing with their new cousin Archie, Harry and Meghan’s newborn son.
Young people, and their parents or carers, can sign-up online to become “Backyard Nature guardians” for their area through the website backyardnature.org
Once joined, users can find their local patch using a map highlighting green spaces, download DIY guides and also find conservation events happening nearby.
The campaign, funded by the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, was inspired by the Eco Emeralds, a group of young environmentalists from All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield, Liverpool.
The youngsters aged seven to 11 contacted Iceland’s managing director Richard Walker via Twitter and were invited to the supermarket firm’s head office to present their ideas, leading to the development of the campaign.
Mr Walker said: “The nation is waking up to the immediate challenge facing us – far bigger than any of the other issues being discussed in the media at the moment, the environmental crisis has huge implications for us all.
“The Eco Emeralds share my belief that the next generation needs to connect with nature and become conservation activists, and their commitment to motivating and enabling others to do this is truly inspiring.
“I strongly believe that children need to know nature in order to want to protect it, and this campaign is about supporting them to do just that.
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