Sir David Attenborough visited the Natural History Museum in London to unveil a message as part of the Museum’s Urban Nature Project, currently underway to transform the Museum’s five-acre gardens into a hub for urban nature and biodiversity.
(c) Natural History Museum
Sir David Attenborough’s words, ‘The future of the natural world, on which we all depend, is in our hands’ were unveiled in bronze lettering on the east carriage ramp outside the Museum’s main entrance and will overlook the new gardens.
At the unveiling, Sir David Attenborough said, “Each of us must cherish the natural world that surrounds us, from wide open countryside to tiny patches of green in our cities. I hope the Urban Nature Project and the new gardens at the Museum will take learning into the open air and inspire young people to continue to value, understand and support the natural world on their doorsteps and far beyond.”
Through the Urban Nature Project the new gardens spanning around the Museum grounds will be somewhere visitors can learn more about the diversity of life on Earth, and Museum scientists can develop best practices to protect urban nature. The Museum’s existing Wildlife Garden will be extended to double the area of native habitats within the grounds, with the aim of better supporting, monitoring and managing the animal and plant life diversity.
Elsewhere in the grounds, new outdoor galleries will tell the story of evolving life on Earth from 540 million years ago to the present day, following an immersive timeline of plants, trees, reptiles, birds and mammals. Children will come face to face with a life-sized bronze Diplodocus immersed in a Jurassic landscape.
(c) Natural History Museum
The gardens will also be home to scientific sensors gathering environmental DNA and acoustic data, to monitor, understand and protect urban nature. A sunken walkway between the ponds to allow greater accessibility for pond dipping activities while ‘future nature’ will also be explored, trialling species that we expect will soon be able to thrive in urban areas due to the microclimate and increasing temperatures.
Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum said, “We were honoured to welcome Sir David Attenborough to the Museum to unveil his powerful and inspiring words which will overlook our new gardens.
Knowing that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, it’s more important than ever to protect the wildlife in our urban spaces. Through the Urban Nature Project, the Museum is encouraging visitors and young people to explore natural history in a new way, giving them the tools to look to the future and safeguard nature in towns and cities.”
The new gardens are due to open in spring 2024.
I really do hope that the removal of my comment yesterday was merely a computer cock up and nothing more.
As stated, tis your playground, your world and we are but invited guests at best, gatecrashers at worst.
I’d really appreciate perhaps an e-mail then if my words grated or offended such that they were expunged. If you have some time.
I’m genuinely perplexed and can only imagine that you had a hard time of it with the previous posts comments and are a bit battered.
Not the behaviour of how I fondly imagine you to be Ian.
You criticised me for blocking comments on an article where I stated I had received death threats because as you said, free speech is sacrosanct. Well, no under those situations, it most certainly is not and I am sick and tired of people telling me that I should accept that sort of abuse.
Thank you and I’m sorry that you have ever had to experience that.
I can tell you that ~ trite as it may sound ~ time is a great healer. It’s certainly helped me with my current neighbour.
Now I hope that this explanation doesn’t sound like semantics, but, seemingly inexpertly, I was criticising the act of removing the comments, not criticising you, Ian.
I hope that you gain a speedy recovery from the effects that whatever you read had on you and remember that they’re the ones who wallow in that filth every waking moment whilst you have the choice and the right to rise again all the better for it.
After all, who doesn’t like a man with the odd battle scar or two?
There must be a content publishers help group to aid dealing with just this sort of thing.
Thank you for your time replying and as always, heartfelt thanks for all the entertainment and enlightenment you bring us on an unbelievably regular basis.