Bringing Beavers Back to Scotland

All of us have little buttons inside us which when pressed release a rant from within. The word “beaver” causes controversy in my household. I’m wildly for the re-introduction of these giant furry rodents. My husband mingles with the hunting, shooting, fishing and land-owning gentry. He is a forester and is less than keen. “It’s going to be a problem. You mark my words,” he says, with a grimace.

Yesterday two beaver families were re-introduced into Argyll. So debate was re-introduced into our conversations. Twelve years ago when we lived in Ontario we saw lots of busy beavers. The outdoor centre where I worked had 200 acres of beautiful woodland and farm property. Whilst we were there, a beaver family moved in and significantly changed the water flows. The situation required careful monitoring to ensure the flooding didn’t reach the centre or cover too much ground.

The beaver is about the only other mammal, aside from humans, that significantly changes a landscape to meet its needs. I am intrigued that beavers cause a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) reaction in so many. So it’s OK for humans to mine, clear land, destroy virgin forests and build hydro-electric dams to meet our needs, but the same folk get hoity-toity about beavers damming a large stream.

However my real enthusiasm for the re-introduction of beavers stems not from moral, ethical or environmental reasons. Educationally, this animal is a hands-down winner. Like most teachers I am not a naturalist. I do not know or recognise subtle signs around us which provide evidence of wildlife at work. Beavers are in-your-face creatures. At dawn and dusk, they will happily chomp on fresh plant stems a short distance away. If they are scared, they slap their tails. It sounds like a pistol going off. They make mistakes. Young beavers sometimes gnaw down trees which are way too big to drag to their lodge or dam. The drag lines, tree stumps, dams and lodges are clearly visible. You don’t need to be a budding David Attenborough to identify beaver territory.

The Scottish beaver website gives lots of interesting facts and ecological reasons to get excited about beavers. I hope any dead beavers are treated carefully and their remnants used for educational purposes. Children need opportunities to get enthused about wildlife and nature. It’s amazing to handle chisel-tipped beaver teeth which are super strong with an iron content sufficient to give the teeth a rusty coloured tinge. Wading through shallow water by a beaver dam is an adventure. A chance to build a dam with sticks and mud is a surprisingly absorbing and challenging problem solving task. A moment of calm and reflection can take place when a child strokes a thick pelt of fur. I want beavers in my back yard for this purpose. Welcome home.

INTRODUCING NATURE ROCKS: INSPIRING AND EMPOWERING PARENTS TO TAKE THEIR FAMILIES TO PLAY, EXPLORE AND ENJOY QUALITY TIME IN NATURE

This website is well worth a look if you want to explore your local natural spaces this summer.

INTRODUCING NATURE ROCKS: INSPIRING AND EMPOWERING PARENTS TO TAKE THEIR FAMILIES TO PLAY, EXPLORE AND ENJOY QUALITY TIME IN NATURE FOR HAPPIER, HEALTHIER AND SMARTER CHILDREN - With Video

Thinking, Learning, Playing!

I am still on a big high! Last Saturday, the Aberdeen City Early Years team held a conference with the theme "Thinking, Learning, Playing!" More than 250 early years staff gave up their free time to attend. There was even a waiting list of others prepared to attend at the last minute should someone drop out.

I've been trying to figure out why the event worked so well. Normally I come away from conferences slightly stressed as I haven't had a chance to chat to people I wanted to and a little depressed as the reality of the real world sinks in, once the conference doors are closed at the end of the day.

Here, I got the chance to chat to a few people beforehand. I met the Early Years team and other keynote speakers the previous evening. This helped in that we weren't just strangers passing in the night the following day.

Unusually, the keynote presentations all complimented each other. Claire Warden from Mindstretchers gave her inspiring and witty talk themed around the "Potential of a Puddle". Any opportunity to hear Claire talk is never wasted. In fact I think a YouTube video clip is long overdue so I can forward her message more widely and chuckle over her stories whenever I want. it would also make a brilliant advert for all the great work happening at her two nature kindergartens, Auchlone and Whistlebrae in Perthshire.

Jennie Lindon was given the post lunch death slot. Many presenters send me to sleep at this time of the day, but Jennie's pragmatic perspective on early childhood issues was reassuring to hear. She told the audience that hers was the "serious" speech. Maybe so, but nevertheless informative and entertaining in her own quieter manner.

The only grumble I have was not being able to attend the other workshops. I was delivering one called "Natural Treasures" about using natural materials as springboards for play. My own keynote speech had focused on my Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship and the early years practice I had observed on my travels. After focusing on the merits of nature pre-schools where children spend 80% or more of their time outdoors, it seemed like a good idea to offer a practical stepping stone onto this path.

I came away from this conference filled with hope. The Aberdeen City Early Years team really know how to work together and are showing genuine commitment to outdoor play provision. The pre-school staff deserve a big cheer for turning out in such large numbers. Despite my workshop being held outside in the pouring rain, there were no complaints and no-one made their excuses and left.

Urban Youth Outdoor Programmes

A couple of months ago I linked up with Brother Yousef via Facebook. He sent me a link to a presentation he gave just over a year ago. He talks about the need to "start where they stand" when working with children from the 'hood.

He thinks carefully about the programmes, partnerships, hooks and pipelines needed to connect urban children to nature. He uses unstructured outdoor activities that include skiiing, camping and canoeing to engage children, develop relationships and learn about the natural world. He cleverly links skiing to tree identification. Outdoor experiences are used to develop positive relationships between children and adults to further develop "X-box detox" activities back in the community such as boat building with the help of an antique boat society. This is the lichen test of quality outdoor learning in practice.

I was fascinated by the work he was doing as it reminded me strongly of my long summer in Phildelphia back in 1987. I was given a travelling grant by the London Quakers to go and do "something that William Penn would approve of". Philedelphia is the city of brotherly love, established by William Penn who had a vision of a "green country town".

I ended up at the Norris Square Neighborhood Project (NSNP) in a Purto Rican neighborhood. It was crack ridden and on those humid hot nights you could smell the violence in the air. You would know there was going to be a shoot out that night. In the five months I was there, 3 teenage youths I met died in different shoot outs. The US statistics remain frightening here. If you are a black male, there is a 1 in 5 chance you will be shot between the ages of 15 and 25.

This neighborhood is about as far removed from being a green country town as you can imagine. The centre looked out onto a small park, which at that time, the municipal authorities would not tidy. The parks department said the patch was too small for park status and therefore not their responsibility. The street cleaning department classed it as a park because of the grass and trees. So the community groups worked hard to keep that patch clean. They provided litter bins and ensured they got emptied. They moved the crack dealers out of the park and a few blocks away.

My job was to work with Efrain, a Puerto Rican community worker, to develop a summer programme of outdoor activities for 11-14 year olds. It was a six-week programme which got the kids exploring the neighborhood and visiting local parks and museums. Rock climbing and other adventurous activities were linked with environmental work. The highlight was a four-day hike in the Applachians.

NSNP began in 1971 as an after school club. It grew steadily into an environmental community centre. When I visit the website today, it's still going strong. Children who used to attend classes in the Eighties are now adults working or volunteering there. The community garden schemes continue to flourish. The Puerto Rican culture is celebrated in style through social and gardening activities that join the generations to care for their own neighborhood.

Back to Brother Yousef. The presentation is inspiring. It lasts an hour, but get your notebook and pen out as the ideas will start flowing. Watch, listen, learn, enjoy and be inspired!

Trouble with Lichen

Last week more than 400 people gathered together at Crieff Hydro to be part of the LTS Outdoor Learning Conference. There was a healthy mix of outdoor professionals, local authority and school delegates from all parts of Scotland.

Having had time to reflect upon the event, the most poignant statement that stuck with me was an off-the-cuff comment from a seconded Curriculum for Excellence development officer. She simply stated that nothing was more boring for kids than being made to look at lichen.

From this, we have an off-the-shelf quality mark. Forget the tick sheet targets of the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge Scheme. Just get outdoor folk to submit a video demonstrating how they engage, enthuse and get children appreciating lichen in one of their lessons. For example, how does an outdoor instructor delivering a canoeing lesson relate lichen to paddling? How can lichen be meaningfully included in an interesting technology lesson in the school grounds? Can we demonstrate the role of lichen in the farm ecosystem?

Trouble with Lichen is the title of a John Wyndham book. Its plot is based upon a scientist who discovers a chemical within lichen that slows the ageing process. The main character remains youthful and radiant as the years go by, thanks to lichen. I quite like the idea of quality outdoor learning being ageless and timeless.

Lichen has long been recognised as an indicator of air quality. Let's make it the official quality indicator logo of outdoor learning too.