Last week I was invited to the Western Academy of Beijing for the latest in a series of engagements on biodiversity. The visit was my third to the school in the last few weeks, following a lecture on Beijing’s wildlife and a field trip to the Wenyu River.
Since my last visit, the students have made incredible progress. They’ve taken the “Pledge for Nature” agreed by ambassadors in Beijing as part of the “Ambassadors for Nature” initiative and adapted it to their school.
And already they have identified an area of the campus to “re-wild”, built ten special nest boxes for the Beijing Swift, to be erected this week ahead of the birds’ arrival in mid-April, set up infrared cameras around campus to monitor nocturnal wildlife and are designing insect hotels.
All of these efforts are designed to align the campus with the new UN Global Biodiversity Framework agreed by more than 190 countries in December in Montreal. They are also part of a broader effort to make the school sustainable, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The students and teachers at WAB are a joy to work with and their actions are a shining example of what’s possible!
Huge thanks to the team at WAB, especially Marta Smith, Stephen Taylor, Pim Arora and Ian Slate.
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