Ailish Carroll-Brentnall (participant)
*Group name
RSPB Mawddach Wildlife Explorers
*Country/Region
Gwynedd, United Kingdom
*Type of Group
Community
*Number of total members of your group/project
About 25 persons
*Number of regular participants in activities
About 20
*Characteristic of members
Most of the members in our group are children who are interested in the environment. We do outdoor conservation tasks, recycle-art and occasionally get a guest speaker in to talk to the group about an issue in our area.
*Theme(s) of your group/project
*Wastes and Recycling, *Biodiversity, *Nature Conservation, *Water Issues
*Missions and activities of your group/project
Our main aim is to get involved in conservation in a way we will find interesting and will help, and as there are many young children in our group, we need to keep our activities fun. Most of our work is to do with our local area, and as we live in the countryside there is lots for us to do. Our leaders tell us other things that are happening outside of the group, so we have the chance to be actively involved in conservation on our own, and to give us the option to have amazing opportunities like the summit. My group has put up and surveyed bird boxes otter halts and dormouse nests. We have carried out scrub clearance and habitat studies for conservation. We do coastal work along the Mawddach estuary, near where we live. We also do recycle art sessions, ornithology (bird watching) and habitat creation projects.
*Characteristics of the group/project activities
The summit has left me with a desire to raise environmental awareness, particularly among young people, so most of the projects I have done since the summit, or plan to do, are presentations to local school children. I have been trying to persuade my friends to recycle, buy locally/fair-trade/organically. I and the rest of the Welsh delegates did a presentation about the summit for RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) volunteers in November 2005. I am also taking part in a survey of mammals in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales.
In about a week I shall be doing a talk at my local primary school (elementary school) about the summit and how they can help the environment in our area, and soon after that I shall do the same talk at my secondary school (junior high school). I have also got plans to start an after-school club for young people about environmental issues and what they can do about them, run by children, for children.
*What kind of group/project do you want to exchange for imformation and experience with?
Mainly children aged 12 or more. Human Rights,Biodiversity,Nature Conservation,Water Issues
*Short message for exchange with other group/project
Hello, my name is Ailish Carroll-Brentnall, I am 13 years old, and I live in North Wales. I am part of the RSPB Wildlife Explorers, an environmental youth group. We are involved in various conservation activities such as bird watching, surveying dormouse nests and otter halts and habitat conservation.
*Impression of Children's World Summit for the Environment 2005 Aichi
It was such a great experience, not just to learn about other children's projects, but to learn about Japan, people from other countries, other peoples views and concerns for the environment and to know the fact that there are other people my age that care about environmental issues. It's also great to have the commitments to give me sense of direction in my actions and to know that all over the world, children and friends I have made at the summit are doing the same.
*Others
It may interest people to know that you can buy an acre of rainforest in Ecuador, Patagonian steppe, elephant habitat, tropical forest in Belize, reefs and mangroves for 5000 yen and four acres of Jaguar habitat for 20000 yen at www.worldlandtrust.org.
*Contact person
Ailish Carroll-Brentnall
*Contact Address
Dysynni House, Llanegryn, Tywyn, Gwynedd, UK
aquaria@btinternet.com
