Play area aims to interest children in rare habitat

Image caption, The Chalk Stream play zone has opened at Winchester Science Centre

The future of one of England's most unique habitats could rest with play areas designed for children to interact with the rare environment, a science centre hopes.

More than eight in 10 of the world's chalk streams are found in England, but the current prolonged hot and dry weather puts pressure on the wildlife that calls the rare waterways home.

Winchester Science Centre, in Hampshire, has now created a play zone themed on the local landscape in the hope children will connect with the environments into adulthood.

It comes as the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) threw its support behind a new Westminster group hoping to protect chalk streams.

According to the science centre, the chalk stream exhibit allows children to explore "why water flow, temperature and oxygen matter to one of the world's rarest freshwater habitats".

"In the surrounding chalk grassland, they can discover how plants and insects cope with extreme heat, and why shade, varied vegetation and connected habitats can provide vital refuges for wildlife."

Image source, Linda Pitkin Image caption, 85% of the world's chalk streams are found in England

Speaking at the Winchester Science Centre, play consultant Amber Ogunsanya-Williams said the new area gave children the chance to "test the world".

"They get to observe, they get to have all of these gorgeous opportunities to engage with one another and they get to test their ideas on their own terms," she said.

"That to me will develop ecologists for the future because they will remember this space and they will remember what it felt like to be able to test their ideas."

Image caption, Amber Ogunsanya-Williams says the new area gives children the chance to "test the world"

It follows the creation of a new cross-party group of MPs and peers in Westminster, which aims to protect the rare habitats.

Many of the rivers are found in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire - with the region's wildlife trust throwing its support behind the new group.

Holly Gray, from BBOWT, said: "This is an exciting step forward in getting chalk streams the recognition they deserve."

"Chalk streams should be the jewel in the crown of our waterways; a unique, internationally rare habitat we are lucky to have on our doorstep, and we should be proud of," she added.

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Related internet links Winchester Science Centre

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust