From sleeping out on a Lincolnshire nature reserve to seabird spotting on the Isle of Canna. Youth wildlife programmes the Alpkit Foundation has supported.

"No one will protect what they don't care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced." That line belongs to David Attenborough, and it underpins the work of every organisation in this article. Each one has bet that the best way to build a generation that cares about the natural world is to put young people into it.

Learning outdoors

Earth Trust runs the Earth School programme near Oxford, bringing primary school classes out for a day in their woodlands, meadows, and farmland. Sessions are tailored to each class, with practical activities designed to help children understand ecological systems through direct experience rather than a textbook. Kitty Cox from Earth Trust: "Each session is tailored to the class and we give confidence to teachers and pupils that they can grasp environmental issues, have fun and learn outdoors."

In Lincolnshire, the wildlife trust takes a different approach: instead of a day trip, they invite children to stay. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust runs overnight stays on a nature reserve, giving children the experience of sleeping under the stars in a woodland environment. The Foundation donated Hunka bivvy bags to make the nights a little warmer. Adrian from the trust describes it plainly: "Every child should have a wild childhood, to let them grow, explore and learn about the natural environment. We want to take it one step further and let children sleep out in a woodland environment, to fully experience what it's like to have a proper adventure."

Into the wild

For Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the gateway is a pair of wellies and a dipping net. Their Wildlife Watch programme runs over 80 volunteer-led sessions each year for children and families: rockpool rambles along the coast, pond dipping at Wildwood Eco Garden in Camborne, mini beast hunts, wildlife gardening. These are the encounters that, as the trust puts it, can "spark a lifelong passion for wildlife and the need to protect it."

On the Isle of Skye, the International Otter Survival Fund runs Team Otter Broadford: a group of children who monitor local wildlife, carry out beach cleans, and get involved in conservation campaigns. A Foundation grant helped them make the trip to the Isle of Canna, a seabird haven on the west coast of Scotland. They camped, cooked for themselves, watched puffins and shearwaters, and added to their beach clean tally. Ben from the Otter Survival Fund: "Canna has different species, particularly marine species, which allowed the children to see and observe them in their natural habitat. The children were in charge of putting up tents, cooking and other outdoor learning activities."

Young Rangers

Many young people who grow up near national parks have never actually been into one. Transport is the barrier. The North York Moors National Park Trust used a Foundation grant to hire minibuses and bring 22 young people aged 11 to 17 from Redcar, Whitby, and Scarborough into the moors for a weekend of practical conservation work. They learned to identify native juniper trees, carried out vegetation monitoring, went invertebrate surveying in a moorland stream, and did bracken bashing to help juniper regenerate. For most, it was their first time inside the national park on their doorstep.

Ellen Cross, funding manager for the Trust: "It demonstrated how positive action directly benefits our natural landscapes and empowered the young people. Tasks included learning about native juniper trees, carrying out monitoring surveys, and bracken bashing to allow the trees to flourish. They also dipped in a moorland stream, developing a knowledge of how invertebrates act as important indicators of water quality."

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The Foundation supports organisations working to break down the barriers between young people and the natural world. If your project gives children and young people direct experiences in the outdoors, find out how to apply.