REASONS TO BE WILD have teamed up with the South East Rivers Trust to spotlight a British wildlife gem, the European kingfisher. The members of this artistic collective love collaborating with organisations or projects that are helping each animal they draw to support the amazing work and inspiring ventures being undertaken across the UK. For their latest artwork, they have chosen our education programme, Project Kingfisher as their featured project.
But who are REASONS TO BE WILD and what do they do? They have written a guest blog for us below to tell you about themselves and the amazing European kingfisher!
REASONS TO BE WILD - a family collaboration
Meet the three sisters who created REASONS TO BE WILD: Emily the Artist (left), Annie the Scientist (middle) and Molly the Wildlife Biologist (right).
As a collaboration, with each of us contributing our individual skills, we’re creating an inspiring mix of art and conservation. We want to encourage people to explore the outdoors and get involved with local projects on their doorstep.
Our latest drawings are a pair of European kingfishers. The images used for these charcoal drawings were captured by the exceptionally talented wildlife photographer Joshua Copping. You can check him out on Instagram @joshuacopping, his work is truly incredible!
For each set of drawings we produce, a percentage of our profits go to a nominated environmental charity. We are delighted to collaborate with the South East Rivers Trust to support Project Kingfisher, an amazing education programme connecting schools and families to rivers.
We came across Project Kingfisher and instantly fell in love with what the project does. We have many happy memories from a childhood of falling in rivers, getting muddy and having a great time exploring the wildlife around us.
Project Kingfisher operates on sites across 3 rivers in southwest London with plans to expand the programme to new areas across the South East. The primary objective is to give children first-hand experience of their local river so they will begin to value and care for it. Kids are able to make many fun memories and learn new skills whilst discovering what they can do to improve our rivers. Thanks to projects like Project Kingfisher, there has already been a change in attitudes towards rivers, with people beginning to take a stewardship role. As more people care for our rivers, populations of small fish can begin to flourish, allowing kingfishers to feed in more places.
At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Project Kingfisher’s outdoor sessions were put on hold and an online programme was developed for children learning from home. With kids returning to school, there are plans to restart these valuable educational experiences. As well as promoting care of our rivers, outdoor education is so important for pupil health and well-being, Check out the Education page for more information.
To order your Kingfisher print produced from this collaborative venture, go to our website’s shop www.reasonstobewild.com
A percentage of proceeds from sales of the kingfisher prints will be donated to the South East Rivers Trust – Project Kingfisher, and the Conservation Volunteers.
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