Wild About Jersey weekend returns

Saturday 11 February 2017

Wild About Jersey, a two-day event that embraces the wildlife of Jersey, returns for a second year this weekend.

The event, organised by the Department of the Environment, is free for the public and will be hosted at Acorn Enterprises.

Nina Cornish, Research Ecologist for the Department of the Environment said: “This event is partly about celebrating their work, but it’s also about getting more people involved by showing them how varied and fascinating the projects are and how easily they can contribute to important scientific research." 

The weekend event aims to provide islanders with a free opportunity to meet and learn about protecting and conserving Jersey’s plant and animal life and will feature local conservation experts as well as UK professionals

Bob Tompkins, a member of the Barn Owls Conservation Network Jersey, will be speaking at the event on Sunday.

Mr Tompkins said: “The weekend event gives islanders interested in their environment a fantastic opportunity to come along to find out more and perhaps to become volunteers in a wide range of wildlife groups. I think it is vitally important for people to come along to events such as this because how do you how important it is for your personal wellbeing without becoming involved even in a small way.”

Mr Tompkins talk will be part of a series offered during the mornings on Saturday and Sunday. Topics being discussed include, Jersey grass snakes and toads, Earthworm watch as well as talks focused on getting children interested in nature.

In the afternoon on both days, the event will offer training to inspire people to join a growing global band of 'citizen scientists' gathering information vital to protecting and improving our environment. This ranges from monitoring toads, and counting plants to surveying Jersey’s butterfly species.

Cristina Sellares, a member of the ‘Birds on the Edge’ project is also presenting at the weekend and said: “Our wildlife is not only our natural heritage and responsibility but also an essential resource, keeping our ecosystems healthy and improving our quality of life. We ought to protect it, but we’ll only protect it when we realise of its intrinsic beauty and importance. I hope that this event allows the public to get interested in the many groups in Jersey that work for our wildlife: be it monitoring, doing conservation work, education and more.”