Walk for wildlife this autumn
15 October 2020
By Dave Rowntree
By Dave Rowntree
Ready to get your walking boots on for beavers and other creatures? It’s time to walk for wildlife and show you care about the extinction crisis currently engulfing our planet, with The Wildlife Trusts’ Big Wild Walk, 26 October to 1 November.
The Wildlife Trusts are asking nature-lovers to fundraise to help raise vital money for their 30 by 30 projects that will restore 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
A great time to get fit, have fun and raise money for wildlife! Invite the family to join in, set up a remote relay with friends or take the challenge yourself. Indoors or outdoors, front room, park or wood, treadmill or track – the choice is yours.
Choose your challenge!
The level of difficulty is completely up to you: aim for 10,000 steps a day or push yourself to do 150,000 in seven days. All you need to take part is a way to count your steps or record your walks.
Dr Amir Khan, GP and ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Do join in the Big Wild Walk from The Wildlife Trusts, perfect just as the leaves are turning from green to red and gold. Autumn is a magical time when you get to experience the full majesty of the natural world. You may even be lucky enough to see some wildlife making final preparations before winter.
“I know that at this time of year we can put off going for a walk, jog or run. The excuses come quick and fast, ‘the clouds look menacing’, ‘it’s raining’ or ‘it will be dark soon’. We have all used these excuses, myself included! Why don’t you challenge yourself to get outside and in the process raise some much-needed funds for The Wildlife Trusts? Funds from the Big Wild Walk will go towards their 30 by 30 campaign that aims to put nature into recovery and protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. If we all work together and put our best foot forwards, we can do so much to support the natural world around us.
“If you are going for a walk outdoors, why don’t you make it a brisk walk? This way you get the benefits of being out in nature as well as the cardiovascular benefits of getting your heart rate up – good for you, and good for nature!”
Sophie Pavelle, zoologist and ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Last year, Hannah Stitfall and I set off on our Hike for Nature, walking 300 miles of the South West Coastal Path. So many of you wanted to join us, that's why I am so excited about the Big Wild Walk from The Wildlife Trusts. It doesn’t matter where you are in the country you can still take part. Sign up, choose your challenge, get some sponsorship and off you go! Keep your eyes peeled whilst you are out and about as you never know what you might see! If you need them, there are also some fantastic spotter guides available so you can identify what you see! Good luck. I'm going to get prepared to scurry like a hedgehog!”
For more information and details on how to fundraise just visit > www.wildlifetrusts.org/big-wild-walk
The Wildlife Trusts are asking nature-lovers to fundraise to help raise vital money for their 30 by 30 projects that will restore 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
A great time to get fit, have fun and raise money for wildlife! Invite the family to join in, set up a remote relay with friends or take the challenge yourself. Indoors or outdoors, front room, park or wood, treadmill or track – the choice is yours.
Choose your challenge!
- The hedgehog: for little legs. Try 3km a day; the distance that this much-loved mammal can travel around the neighbourhood in just one night, on the prowl for food and a mate.
- The arctic tern: for high-fliers. Attempt to cover 96,000 steps over the week. That’s the number of kilometres an arctic tern travels on migration between the UK and Antarctica each year.
- The nature nut: for the dedicated. Walk a new nature reserve every single day of the challenge. The Wildlife Trusts have more nature reserves than there are branches of McDonalds and the majority of us live under three miles from our closest one. Check out your local Wildlife Trust’s website to find your closest reserves.
The level of difficulty is completely up to you: aim for 10,000 steps a day or push yourself to do 150,000 in seven days. All you need to take part is a way to count your steps or record your walks.
Dr Amir Khan, GP and ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Do join in the Big Wild Walk from The Wildlife Trusts, perfect just as the leaves are turning from green to red and gold. Autumn is a magical time when you get to experience the full majesty of the natural world. You may even be lucky enough to see some wildlife making final preparations before winter.
“I know that at this time of year we can put off going for a walk, jog or run. The excuses come quick and fast, ‘the clouds look menacing’, ‘it’s raining’ or ‘it will be dark soon’. We have all used these excuses, myself included! Why don’t you challenge yourself to get outside and in the process raise some much-needed funds for The Wildlife Trusts? Funds from the Big Wild Walk will go towards their 30 by 30 campaign that aims to put nature into recovery and protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. If we all work together and put our best foot forwards, we can do so much to support the natural world around us.
“If you are going for a walk outdoors, why don’t you make it a brisk walk? This way you get the benefits of being out in nature as well as the cardiovascular benefits of getting your heart rate up – good for you, and good for nature!”
Sophie Pavelle, zoologist and ambassador for The Wildlife Trusts, says: “Last year, Hannah Stitfall and I set off on our Hike for Nature, walking 300 miles of the South West Coastal Path. So many of you wanted to join us, that's why I am so excited about the Big Wild Walk from The Wildlife Trusts. It doesn’t matter where you are in the country you can still take part. Sign up, choose your challenge, get some sponsorship and off you go! Keep your eyes peeled whilst you are out and about as you never know what you might see! If you need them, there are also some fantastic spotter guides available so you can identify what you see! Good luck. I'm going to get prepared to scurry like a hedgehog!”
For more information and details on how to fundraise just visit > www.wildlifetrusts.org/big-wild-walk
Hedgehog (c) Tom Marshall
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