Scouts embrace rewilding to connect UK teenagers with nature
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Adventure centre projects will promote interest in natural world, boosting young people’s wellbeing. A £150,000 initiative to tackle the “teenage dip” in nature connectedness will involve the Scout Association introducing rewilding to its adventure centres across the UK.
![[Young people take part in a youth rewilding summit at Knepp, West Sussex, organised by Youngwilders in 2024.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/56d8d9a754cb2ed1e9d051cd34566cd0772c9a58/0_0_1620_1080/master/1620.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The funding, announced on Wednesday by the environmental charity Rewilding Britain, will support 11 projects aimed at putting young people at the heart of nature restoration. Several focus explicitly on reversing the sharp decline in young people’s engagement with the natural world during adolescence.
![[Young people walk through woods as part of a Wilderness Foundation UK project]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/eab24e71f1023c4844a47b70daf4b9051ac9f069/39_76_1474_1843/master/1474.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“Children are often naturally drawn to nature – think mud pies, sliding down grassy banks, making daisy chains, chasing birds. But then suddenly there’s this dip when the teen years hit, which can last well into adulthood, of disconnection and disinterest in nature,” said Sara King, a manager at Rewilding Britain.
In one of the world’s most nature-depleted and nature-disconnected countries, addressing the teenage disengagement from wild nature is seen as critical to the success of future conservation and nature restoration efforts in the UK. The Scouts, Britain’s largest youth organisation, with 440,000 young members, will use the funding to apply rewilding principles at their adventure centres across the UK. These popular sites, covering more than 300 hectares, include sites in protected landscapes from the Lake District to Ashdown Forest.
Joining Rewilding Britain’s more than 1,000-strong Rewilding Network, the management of centres will shift from a primarily human-focused approach to one that better balances people and nature. Scouts aged 10 to 14 have already been involved in planning and installing nature-based solutions, including leaky dams and seasonal streams and ponds. These aim to improve habitats and reduce flood risk, both at Scout centres and downstream.
