2024 marks 10 years of Action for Conservation. Over the last decade, we have inspired and empowered over 6,500 young people to protect and restore the living world. Our mission is to bring the magic of nature into young people’s lives, inspiring a youth movement committed to conservation. This report highlights our achievements over the last twelve months across our three key areas of work:
- Nature Education and Empowerment - encompassing all of our education work across WildED and our site-based Nature Education Programmes.
- Nurturing Youth Leadership - capturing our work to support young leaders from our Summer Camps, Ambassador Programme, Youth Ranger Traineeship and Youth Leadership Groups.
- Shaping System Change - detailing our work to catalyse change across the environmental sector, through our Intergenerational Action Projects and our influencing and advocacy work with other charities and organisations.
Nature Education and Empowerment
WildED
This academic year we delivered WildED in 15 secondary schools and youth groups in the South West (Bristol and South Wales), South East (Greater London) and North West (Liverpool and Manchester). Through the delivery of 99 inspiring workshops and over 240 hours of hands-on activities and practical action, 304 young people were mentored and supported by our diverse team of young environmentalists to explore environmental and social issues facing their communities and ways of addressing them. They developed relationships with and gained knowledge from community partners, took action locally, and designed and delivered their own projects and campaigns to benefit nature and the communities where they live.
- We delivered WildED in schools where, on average, 42% of pupils are in receipt of pupil premium, and 56% are from a minority ethnic background.
- We supported the delivery of 27 youth-led projects this year, which included creating nature-friendly vegetable patches, food growing spaces and wildflower meadows, building insect habitats, creating a sensory story trail and garden, and more.
- 94% of students taking part in the WildED programme participated in practical action that led to measurable change for people and nature.
An average of 68% of young people now do more for nature in their daily lives, feel more hopeful about the future, and are more motivated to seek out further experiences and leadership opportunities.
Penpont Nature Education Programme
Drawing on our WildED model in schools, we have refined our education work at our flagship Penpont Project into a bespoke Nature Education Programme. This year we worked with 107 young people across 7 schools and youth groups, connecting them to the natural world through nature walks and reflective sit spots, and delivering activities that support our nature restoration goals on site, such as tree planting, seed collection, species monitoring, and river restoration. We have established a regular Penpont Youth Club in partnership with Brecon Youth Club, providing monthly sessions for local young people to connect with nature and their local landscape.
- After the successful pilot year of the Penpont Nature Education Programme, we hosted a public Education Summit in February 2024, welcoming 40 young people, educators, youth workers, and community partners to hear about the transformative impact of our work.
- ‘It's amazing how your work with young people is building their confidence and leadership abilities as well as their engagement and respect for nature.’ - Pauline Wilson, Education Summit guest and independent impact consultant
Penpont Land Library
As part of our Nature Education Programme, this summer we built and launched the UK’s first ‘Land Library’ at the Penpont Project. With daily reading among children down by 26% since 2005, the Land Library is an essential safe, immersive space within the landscape to explore and connect with nature through books, literature, maps, and art. The dedicated space was co-designed with members of the Penpont Youth Leadership Group, and in late June 2024, we hosted a launch event for 100 guests, along with an open weekend for members of the public.
An average of 73% of young people taking part in our Nature Education work developed greater environmental awareness, felt more connected to nature, and had more skills to help nature.
Nurturing Youth Leadership
This year we supported over 200 young leaders across our Residential Camp, Ambassador, and Youth Ranger Programmes, Youth Leadership Groups and our Alumni network. These Programmes offer young people the means to develop skills, knowledge and experience in conservation, restoration and nature connection, whilst empowering them to become change-makers, decision-makers, and influential voices for nature nationally.
Residential Summer Camps
Young people begin their inspirational journeys as Youth Ambassadors by attending our five-day Residential Summer Camps in the Peak District, South Downs and Pembrokeshire Coast National Parks. This year, we selected 64 young people with leadership potential to join us on Camp and develop a deeper connection to nature, experience hands-on work to restore nature, grow their leadership skills, and build strong, nurturing relationships with a network of peers who share their values. Practical conservation and core camp workshops on environmental issues and solutions were interwoven with nature walks, outdoor play, bioblitzes, evening bat walks, morning bird ringing, moth trapping, sit spots and journaling to develop young people’s connection, skills, and confidence to bring about positive change.
In the final days of Camp, young people found inspiration, shared their ideas, and planned their own grassroots projects to help bring about change in their communities when they returned home and became Action for Conservation Ambassadors. For example, Ameera was inspired to join her local nature society in Islington and is keen to explore how she can combine her passion for computer science and nature. She said “I felt more passionate about nature (after Camp). I feel like I’ve always liked talking about the environment but then I never had the time and energy to go and be in touch with nature.” We are excited to see what this year's Ambassadors will achieve.
Following Camps, 79% of young people felt more connected to nature and 95% said Camp would lead them to seek out more opportunities to support nature in the future.
Ambassador Programme
Throughout the year, we have supported 51 existing Ambassadors and 67 Alumni to take action, influence and lead through in-person Action Days, bespoke mentoring sessions, online events, and communication and leadership opportunities. We facilitated fifteen Action Days to support Ambassadors in enhancing their environmental skills and knowledge. For example, South East Ambassadors visited the Wilder Blean Bison Project in Kent, where they set up mammal traps and took part in woodland biodiversity surveys; South West Ambassadors planted trees at Westonbirt Arboretum (pictured above); and, North West Ambassadors restored wetlands at Heartwood Social Farm near Matlock.
We co-hosted a two-day Ambassador Graduation event with Friends of the Earth and SOS-UK where 33 Action for Conservation Ambassadors joined 47 other young leaders to take part in practical training workshops and build long-lasting connections with other young activists. Alongside these facilitated events, we also support Ambassadors to design and deliver their own independent projects and actions in their communities. For example:
Alex and Jack (right) from our North West cohort led a workshop building bug hotels with 35 other young people at the Chester Zoo Youth Symposium in Autumn 2023. Their work with us and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust won them the Youth Voice and Social Action Award at the RYCA Youth Climate Champion Awards 2024.
Eva from our South West cohort delivered a clothes-mending workshop in her local community teaching others about fast fashion and clothing repair. With our support, Eva served as a Youth Consultant for Forestry England, helping to make their work more appealing and accessible to young people.
George from our South East cohort started a restoration project at Daws Hall Nature Reserve to remove weeds and enhance the space for wildlife. He has also been working with the Marine Conservation Society’s Youth Ocean Network to expand his knowledge and skills in seascape conservation.
As a result of the Ambassador Programme 61% of young people carried out an activity, project or campaign to help nature in their school or local area. 64% have changed their everyday behaviour (what they eat, buy, wear etc.) and 89% now speak to their friends and family more about environmental issues.
Penpont Youth Rangers
This year, as part of our efforts to diversify entry-level employment in the sector and support young people in building the skills required to take on paid work, we launched our first Youth Ranger Traineeship programme at the Penpont project. Daniel and Ella (pictured above) completed an action-packed 9-week trial Youth Ranger Traineeship at the Penpont Project, supporting our on-site team in delivering our ambitious nature restoration plans for the land and contributing to our on-site Nature Education Programme. As a result of the Traineeship, they gained key ecological and transferable skills such as tree planting, coppicing, green woodwork, bushcraft, fencing and habitat creation, as well as willow weaving, storytelling, public speaking and project management. Both Daniel and Ella are still actively involved at Penpont. Daniel, who planned to seek paid work as a plumber before the traineeship, is now looking into post-secondary opportunities including the Black Mountains College Nature Recovery NVQ. Ella is doing a master's degree in Art focusing on the climate movement and the link between art and activism.
We have now recruited our next cohort of Youth Rangers, Layla and Georgia, who are looking forward to an extended four-month traineeship that will grow their confidence, skills and experience in land management, conservation and education.
Youth Leadership Groups
Youth Leadership Groups are the foundation of our work to empower young people to take action for nature and become decision-makers at scale. The Penpont Project Youth Leadership Group is made up of 15 passionate and inspiring young people, and this year we recruited eight new members to add younger and more local voices to the group. The newly recruited local group members helped plan and deliver two community volunteer days on-site. They participated in bespoke opportunities, including work experience placements and research projects on great crested newt reintroductions. The original Youth Leadership Group members who were first recruited in 2019 have moved into advisory roles and supported us with the co-design of the Penpont Education Programme and the Land Library, as well as co-leading our crowdfunding campaign this summer. Over the past year, our Youth Leaders were invited to speak at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, on the London Live TV show, and to present at our Land Library launch event (pictured above). Our Youth Leaders' work was showcased in the We Feed the UK campaign this summer, and featured in publications such as Woop Woop magazine and Natur Cymru. Their efforts also earned them the prestigious Campaign for National Parks 2024 Young Changemaker of the Year Award.
Shaping System Change
We aim to inspire and support a youth environmental movement that shifts culture, shapes environmental policy and transforms conservation practice nationally. Through the development of youth governance and decision-making models, particularly at the Penpont Project, our flagship Intergenerational Action Project, we demonstrate the value young people bring as leaders in the environmental sector.
Our influence extends beyond our own work, as we advocate for and support others in adopting similar youth-led practices. This is achieved by sharing our approach with various partner organisations, such as the Usk Catchment Partnership, Avon Wildlife Trust, and Heartwood Social Farm. We also provide advice and guidance to environmental organisations on how to embed youth voices in decision-making processes. Across all of our programmes, we facilitate young leaders as they enter into decision-making spaces, fostering a new generation of advocates equipped to shape a more inclusive and resilient environmental sector.
The Penpont Project
As we progress into the fifth year of the Penpont Project, we are beginning to see the long-term, tangible benefits of our work for nature and the community. This year, we welcomed 238 young people and community members on-site to participate in nature restoration, connect with nature, and learn from the land. The impact of our work will be felt even more significantly in the years to come, but here are some key nature restoration activities undertaken over the last year:
- Planted 6,400 native trees, including Miyawake plots, orchards, and hedgerows, and supported habitat connectivity for species like spotted and pied flycatchers, willow warbler, green woodpecker, and marsh tit.
- Established a Tree Nursery for future local tree supply, focusing on species with conservation and agroforestry value.
- Re-introduced native flora to marshy grassland at Cwmsefin Regenerative Farm to support local insect species.
- Restored wetlands, ponds and slow water flow in the Nant Gwrthyd, a tributary of the River Usk.
- Created 12 microhabitats, including barn owl and pine marten boxes, ponds, and an otter holt.
Intergenerational Action
Our Intergenerational Action Projects put our Ambassadors and other young leaders in the driving seat of influential, replicable and ground-breaking projects at scale, underpinned by youth-centred decision-making processes developed at the Penpont Project. This provides them with the skills to avert climate and ecological breakdown through co-creating new and ambitious plans for land use, conservation and public engagement. This August, we were very excited to officially launch the first big development in this area of work, our new Intergenerational Action for Climate and Nature project, delivered in partnership with the Avon Wildlife Trust, Heartwood Social Farm and the Penpont Project, and is funded by the The National Lottery Community Fund’s ‘Climate Action Fund’. This three-year project will see us support nature recovery underpinned by intergenerational decision-making processes across 665 acres. Over the summer, we recruited 34 young people to join Youth Leadership Groups at Grow Wilder and Heartwood Social Farm. We are kicking off the Project in autumn 2024, with inaugural visits to Grow Wilder, Heartwood Social Farm and Penpont that focus on building a shared understanding and deep connection to each site’s socio-ecological past and present states.
We are excited to share we are expanding our work in the South East including Eastbourne, Brighton and Worthing. Working on this stretch of coast will also allow us to introduce a marine and freshwater dimension to our school and community engagement, and lay the groundwork for the creation of an ambitious, large-scale coastal Intergenerational Action Project, utilising the methodologies developed at our other sites in the years to come.
Sector Influencing
This summer we launched our research report, Young People & the Environment, which surveyed over 1,000 11-16-year-olds across the UK to learn how they felt about the environment.
The insights from this survey reveal that 64% of young people aged between 11 and 16 are experiencing eco-anxiety and nearly half spend as little as 8.5 minutes in nature daily.
The report highlights that the best way to combat eco-anxiety is through education, practical action, and spending time in nature, further strengthening the case for our approach as an organisation and supporting others to embed youth-led policies.
Over the past year, we have provided guidance and support to 18 organisations, including the Campaign for National Parks, the National Trust, RSPB, and Friends of the Earth, offering expertise and sharing insights and strategies to amplify youth involvement. Through collaboration, advocacy, and innovation, we are laying the foundation for a more inclusive, sustainable environmental sector — one where young people are not just participants but leaders in driving change.
We are profoundly grateful to all our dedicated supporters who make our work possible. We are an ambitious, passionate and dedicated team and look forward to an exciting and impactful 2025. If you would like to find out more about our work please email Lani at lani@actionforconservation.org.