Communities across Wrexham benefitted thanks to a nature project focused around carbon literacy and biodiversity.
The Go Green 4 Nature project, was a partnership between Wrexham Council, Groundwork North Wales and Xplore! Science Discovery Centre.
It was funded by Natural Resources Wales’s Resilient Communities Grant, and it saw improvements made to a number of green spaces across the county.
The project also worked with schools to educate pupils around carbon literacy and biodiversity, and it provided several free, public events.
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Improvements to green spaces
Green spaces including Tŷ Pawb’s rooftop garden, the Lodge Valley slopes at Brymbo, Nant Mill and Minera Country Parks all benefitted from improvements during the Go Green 4 Nature project.
These improvements included creating raised beds, improving habitats through woodland and grassland management, creating wildflower areas, and general maintenance tasks and tidying.
Volunteers came together from a range of backgrounds to help, and gained valuable new skills and experience.
Richard Aram, Head of Projects and Contracts at Groundwork North Wales, said: “It was fantastic to work with schools and local community volunteers to enhance the biodiversity across different sites in Wrexham. A number of green spaces were improved and volunteers learnt a range of skills.”
Work with schools
Primary schools
The Xplore! development team created interactive, informative and relevant educational activities for the Go Green 4 Nature project. It was important that pupils came away with a stronger connection to the natural environment and to be empowered to play an active role in how it is managed.
Xplore! created a half-day session called WildWatch that was available for Wrexham-based primary schools to take advantage of. Just over 600 Year 5 and Year 6 local pupils enjoyed the session between January 2023 and March 2024, including 60 home educated children.
As part of WildWatch, children were introduced to the topic of biodiversity; specifically what it means, what eco-systems and food webs are, what the importance of biodiversity is and how it can be measured.
They were introduced to the idea of Citizen Science and how anyone can measure and collect data that is fed into real-world surveys. They were then given a magnifying glass alongside quadrats and a large floor mat showing different species of flora, fauna and insects and shown how they can observe and count species before taking the theory outside into the real world.
The children headed out into the city centre to follow a biodiversity trail around Wrexham. Children were encouraged to identify plants and animals, take a photo of them with their tablet and record findings on a survey sheet. They then stopped at Llwyn Isaf where they got to put their surveying skills into practise.
Children were given a recap of their learnings and were given their next challenge. Their mission was to redesign the field to increase biodiversity without comprising anything already there such as the bandstand, and they needed to consider how their design should be looked after once improved.
Xplore! were keen that the learning didn’t end after just the one session so provided each class with their very own take-away resources so that they could continue exploring when they got back to school.
Katie Williams, Xplore! Business Development Officer, said: “With school budgets so stretched currently, we’re always thrilled when funding enables children to go on a much-coveted school trip. This project gave us the opportunity to develop a workshop like no other, enabling us to get out into nature come rain or shine whilst providing children with a better understanding of different local wildlife habitats.”
Claire Evans from Ysgol Pentre CiW said: “Our pupils enjoyed the Wild Watch session. We loved counting animals and plants. It was interesting to use our local area to uncover biodiversity.”
Danielle Weigh from Froncysyllte CP School said: “It was a brilliant day filled with fun and challenging activities. The children were all engaged and enjoyed both the indoor and outdoor activities provided.”
Alison King from Gwenfro CP School said: “It was a wonderful trip, really informative and fun. Getting the children outdoors was fantastic.”
Sarah Jones from All Saints VA School said: “The pupils experienced an engaging workshop on biodiversity which will aid their learning back in school.”
Josie Edwards from St. Peter’s Church-in-Wales Primary School, Rossett, said: “It was a very important session, and great hands-on experience.”
Secondary schools
Work with secondary school focused on teaching pupils about carbon literacy and biodiversity.
Pupils from a range of schools in the Wrexham area took part in carbon literacy workshops and practical session to improve areas of their school grounds for biodiversity. This included tree planting, grassland management, wildflower sowing, pond creation and creating hibernacula.
Public events
A range of public events were also provided throughout the project, all with a carbon or biodiversity theme.
These included learn how to scythe workshops, palaeontology walks, foraging walks, autumnal nature crafts sessions, log scapes craft workshops and natural wreath making sessions.
The events were open and free to attend, and they helped to improve people’s skills and increase knowledge around biodiversity and carbon literacy.
“Excellent work around carbon literacy”
Cllr David A Bithell, Deputy Leader and Climate Champion, said: “The Go Green 4 Nature project did some excellent work around carbon literacy through education in schools and through the many free, public events that were delivered. Important projects like Go Green 4 Nature really help to bring awareness of the climate emergency.”
Cllr Terry Evans, Lead Member for Environment, said: “The Go Green 4 Nature project brought improvements to a number of green spaces in Wrexham, increasing our biodiversity, and it helped to bring understanding of the importance of looking after the environment. We’re delighted with what the project has managed to achieve.”
