Page 17 - Wildlife News December 2015

Northern gannets are Welcome wildUlaiKfnne-dwetLwriiudsasstesuetnseste.so:wrsg/
increasingly having to share their
I used to love reading to
environment with wind farms. my children at bedtime.
The new research may reduce any The song about Mike TV’s
fate in Charlie and the
negative impacts. Chocolate Factory was a
favourite. In it Dahl vents
How it was done his wrath on the hated television: “They
sit and stare and stare and sit until they’re
Researchers taped tiny GPS transmitters to the hypnotised by it”. The intensity grows
tail feathers of 26 birds captured on Alderney until he shouts “IT ROTS THE SENSES IN
last June. These devices relayed the positions of THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!”
tagged birds every three hours whenever they What would Roald Dahl think now?
were in range of a 3G signal. After about two Not only does the average child watch
months the transmitters fell off. To watch the 17 hours of TV a week; they spend 20
webcam, or sponsor a TAG and name a gannet, hours online.
visit teachingthroughnature.co.uk/t-a-g/ People have probably always looked
at the next generation’s lifestyle with
The tag lasts horror, so as I join the ranks of parents
two months. struggling with screen addiction I try
desperately to be objective. The facts
December 2015 are that children only roam 300 yards
from the house, not six miles as my
grandparents’ generation did, and 30%
have never climbed a tree.
That we are not designed for this
is borne out by shocking evidence of
the near incurability of serious obesity,
and terrifying graphs of mental health
admissions for children and young
people. We need love, support and
companionship, but the need to be close
to nature is in our DNA too.
Your Wildlife Trust is working with
as many children as it can to reverse
these trends: in schools, in parks, in wild
places. A ‘wild’ childhood is good for
health, wellbeing and nature. We want
every child to be wild. Your support as a
member is critical in helping us to reach
this ambition. Thank you.

Stephanie Hilborne OBE
Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts

If your family or friends share your interest in
wildlife please encourage them to join their
nearest Wildlife Trust. There are 47 Wildlife
Trusts across the UK with over 800,000
members. We are the largest UK voluntary
organisation dedicated to conserving all the
UK’s habitats and species.

For links to all Wildlife Trusts go to the
wildlifetrusts.org

twitter @wildlifetrusts
facebook.com/wildlifetrusts

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