Science Society gains Lottery Fund Support

Bournemouth Natural Science Society has announced the award of £47,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for an exciting project called Bournemouth Naturally.

The project will take place in and around the green spaces of Bournemouth and aims to inspire local volunteers to observe and record the wildlife of Bournemouth.  A new project officer will lead a series of guided walks, and identification workshops for learning and participation with support from the Bournemouth Natural Science Society.

The project will include activities for people of all ages, including talks, wildlife surveys and family wildlife days.  There will also be opportunities to become actively involved in the project through training to enhance wildlife identification skills, or by helping to input information on local wildlife observations to a new database.  Local people will be encouraged to record wildlife independently across Bournemouth greenspaces and to join special interest groups relating to their particular interests.  The BNSS is a local society first started in the 1900’s for people interested in collecting from nature and discussion of scientific ideas.  Today the iconic Grade 11 listed building at 39 Christchurch Road remains the home of the society and houses a number of natural history collections.  The society is active in running voluntary field days to explore the natural history of the surrounding area and recently published a book highlighting the flora and fauna of the surrounding region.

Dr Mary Thornton, museum development officer for the society said, “We are thrilled to have the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are confident that the project will encourage wildlife enthusiasts to discover more about the nature on their doorstep.  We hope new members will become interested in preserving the common green public spaces and the wildlife associated with them for future generations. We hope the records and conservation of the local wildlife will be a source of pride for local citizens.
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Nicki Brunt, Urban and East Dorset Living Landscapes Manager for DWT said,  “This is a very exciting opportunity to develop strong partnership working between organisations such as BNSS, DWT, Bournemouth Borough Council and the Dorset Environmental Records Centre, community conservation groups and wildlife experts, to provide a new programme of activities aimed at inspiring people to enjoy, learn about and help conserve their local wildlife.   The Bournemouth Natural Science Society is ideally placed to act as a focus for wildlife recording and education in Bournemouth.”

For more information on how to get involved the first drop in for Bournemouth Naturally will be during the afternoon of Wednesday, 4 April, 2-4pm.  The building and collections of the BNSS will be open to view on Saturday April 14th between 10-12.30pm.  Other aspects of the society can be viewed at www.bnss.org.uk