Meet the Nature Park regional team: Yorkshire and the Humber

What excites you about the Nature Park programme? 

"It excites me that the Nature Park programme will provide spaces for children and young people to explore, move and engage all of the senses whilst at their place of education.  Being outside and using real examples from the natural world can make a huge difference to their engagement and sense of wellbeing, particularly for learners who don’t thrive in traditional classroom contexts."

What are you looking forward to most with the Nature Park? 

"I’m really looking forward to seeing people proudly sharing the positive actions they’ve taken to boost biodiversity at school or in their local communities, and to celebrating their achievements with them!"

What is your favourite UK wildlife and why? 

"Mustelids (the weasel family) are my top pick of UK wildlife.  They’re astonishing hunters, with great examples of adaptations for each ecological niche they occupy, like the body format of weasels and stoats enabling them to “weasel in” to burrows.  Alas, my absolute favourites, wolverines, disappeared from the UK thousands of years ago.  Maybe it’s time to bring them back (but don’t ask me to do the risk assessment)?"

What is the most interesting, unique or fun thing you've seen in school grounds? 

"Before joining the Nature Park, I worked for conservation charity Plant Heritage, and I’m keen on preserving the heritage associated with cultivated plants alongside promoting their benefits for nature.  I was so happy to visit a school in Grimsby who have planted their orchard with Lincolnshire heritage apples - great for pollinators and for keeping that local history alive!"

Jen Davies, Programme Officer for Yorkshire and the Humber 

What has been your highlight so far with the Nature Park? 

"There are so many things that I could say to answer this question it’s hard to choose just one! I would say that my highlight so far has been visiting schools and doing the Hidden Nature Challenge with the children, it’s amazing what they can find and how they describe such things when they’re prompted to look. The excitement when they find some hidden nature never gets old!"

What are you looking forward to most with the Nature Park? 

"This is also so hard to narrow down! I’m really looking forward to seeing how this project supports biodiversity over the years. I also can’t wait to hear more stories about how schools have transformed their spaces into wildlife havens! Children are so creative and some of the ideas I’ve heard so far sound amazing! I can’t wait to see these ideas come to life!"

What is your favourite UK wildlife and why? 

"This changes all the time but currently my favourite UK wildlife is a pheasant because I just think they are absolutely beautiful birds! Specifically the male. They’re not native to the UK but they have been around since the 11th century! They are actually originally from Asia. An interesting pheasant fact is that although they can fly, they prefer to run even though they can reach speeds of 60mph in the air!"

What is the most interesting, unique or fun thing you've seen in school grounds? 

"It has to be the constant presence of sparrowhawks all day over a school in Leeds! They got so close you could see their faces." 

Meet the other Nature Park regional teams 

• North West 
• North East 
• East Midlands and West Midlands 
• London 
• East of England 
• South East and South West (coming Winter 2024) 

Contact your regional team 

To get in contact with your regional team please email us at [email protected]