Cabinet Secretary awards primary schools for wildlife projects

The two schools were among 20 throughout Scotland involved in a Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) wildlife camera-trapping project to enthuse and teach pupils about the wildlife in their area. Pupils gathered footage over a number of months, capturing film of foxes, red squirrels, deer, badgers, otters, birds and more. Schools then submitted a compilation video of their favourite videos and pictures. The project will continue in 2017-18 and beyond, with more schools throughout Scotland.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

 “It was wonderful to meet some of the children involved in this project and watch the creative, fun films they’ve made. From both the videos and from speaking to the children that I’ve met today, it’s clear that this project has really got them excited about the wildlife right on their doorsteps. It’s so important to encourage this next generation to value and protect Scotland’s nature. This will hopefully also inspire them to get outdoors more and more, creating a lifetime of healthy habits.”

Mike Cantlay, SNH’s Chair, added:

“This project was a wonderful way to encourage children outdoors, learning about nature, in both towns and cities. Many schools embraced this project, involving the whole school and using it to contribute to their outdoor learning, as well as other areas of their education. I was so impressed by all the work that went into making the amazing videos, showing their exciting discoveries about wildlife in and around their school grounds. The children can also be proud that their project has helped build a picture of the wildlife in their local areas.”

Camera trap prizes were awarded to those judged to have made the most innovative use of the equipment in the context of the school’s location. SNH announced the winners of this first-ever school camera trapping project earlier this month at their Battleby office, near Perth.

The primary school winners were:

• Innovation category - Caerlaverock and Braemar
• Pupil Involvement category - Kings Oak (Greenock) and Aberlady
• Learning and Progression category - Grandtully and St Andrews RC (Dundee)

St Andrews RC P4a pupil, Sophie Hocking, said, “It was exciting putting the camera out and then seeing the next day if we had got any animals. The project changed me because I really like wildlife now.”

Caerlaverock P4a pupil, Jess Currie, added, “I loved seeing how the animals act while we are not watching them.”

The project was inspired by the highly successful North East Schools Camera Trap project, created by the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (NES BP). They came up with the simple but effective idea of involving local primary schools to show how easy and fun it can be to use camera traps and capture footage of a whole range of species right on their doorstep. SNH worked together with the originator of the pilot project, Rose Toney, NES BP Co-ordinator, to offer a similar opportunity but on a nationwide scale.

The project is part of the ongoing work for Scotland’s Biodiversity A Route Map to 2020, which aims to connect people with the natural  world.

See the winning videos at:

Braemar Primary = https://youtu.be/CQURmKlvInA

Caerlaverock Primary = https://youtu.be/z8H0DOZqgl0

Kings Oak Primary = https://youtu.be/fzQWHRIB_SI

St Andrews Primary = https://youtu.be/AxxOTxID6kg

Grandtully Primary = https://youtu.be/XoZRDVoz5Pc

Aberlady = https://youtu.be/ArckoBICDak

ENDS

Media queries - contact SNH media & public relations officer Vicki Mowat on 0131 316 2659 or vicki.mowat@snh.gov.uk or the Inverness press office on 01463 725 021 or 022.

Picture use: Pheasant image courtesy of Grantully Primary. Please credit other photos to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Above picture includes Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, SNH Chair Mike Cantlay and pupils from Dunbarney Primary School and Crossford Primary School.