Children to help design revamped wildlife garden
March 11, 2021
Aspiring young designers and naturalists are being invited to submit ideas for a new feature in a revamped nature space.
The South Downs National Park Trust is helping to support the development of Rolls Royce’s wildlife garden, which is set to have a new lease of life with new nature-friendly features.
The Chichester company is asking children aged from 5 to 11 to suggest features that would enhance the garden and its habitat value to local flora and fauna. As well as ideas to nurture wildlife, such as pollinator-friendly plants, trees and flowers, bird feeders, bug hotels and nest-boxes, children can design seats, shelters, sculpture and other items.
The winner of the design competition will be chauffeur-driven to the Home of Rolls-Royce, then perform an official opening ceremony for the rejuvenated Garden, before viewing their winning feature in its new setting.
Julie Fawcett, Chair of the South Downs National Park Trust, the official charity for the National Park, said: “We’ve worked with Rolls‑Royce for a number of years, notably on its wonderful Goodwood Apiary project. We’re delighted to support this development of the wildlife garden and a National Park Ranger will also be carrying out a formal wildlife survey.
“It’s inspiring to see major local companies taking a real, tangible interest in their surrounding environment, and making an important contribution to the ecological health of the wider area. Nature doesn’t recognise boundaries, so a key aspect of the National Park’s Nature Recovery Strategy is to help create a network of wildlife havens right across the South East. This wildlife garden is nature recovery in action and it’s great to see people collaborating to boost biodiversity.”
The development of the garden is also being supported by Chichester District Council. Councillor Penny Plant, who leads the environment portfolio, said: “Wildlife corridors are incredibly important for protecting biodiversity, particularly pollinators, by linking areas of habitat that have been fragmented by human activity.”
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