Students Inspire Community to Protect Endangered Curlews (By Evie and Juno,Year 8)
Evie and Juno, Year 8, Good News Room at Clevedon School
Last month the atmosphere in the Clevedon School hall was warm and welcoming as people from the local community began to fill the seats.
Ria (Year 8) and Caleb (Year 9) introduced themselves and welcomed Mary Colwell to the event.
Mary began by asking the audience what the word sustainable meant.
Many people spoke about reducing energy waste, but Caleb mentioned our connection with nature, which gave Mary the perfect opening to introduce the curlew.
The curlew is an endangered bird, and only the previous week the slender-billed curlew had officially been declared extinct.
Mary explained that she had been one of the last people fortunate enough to see this bird in the wild.
She has since worked tirelessly to rally support for the remaining curlew populations, even speaking to the King, who once described the curlew as a “sexy bird”.
National Curlew Day takes place on 21 April, and efforts are continuing to raise awareness ahead of this important date.
Mary has also helped introduce a Natural World GCSE, designed to educate more young people about nature and conservation.
When the audience learned that one breed of curlew had become extinct, one person was moved to tears. It was a powerful reminder that we must act now to support and protect the curlew and its precious place in the natural world.
