Film / News
Wildscreen brings back the world’s biggest online nature hub
Bristol-based conservation charity Wildscreen has announced the return of its renowned and much-missed platform Wildscreen ARK, which is billed as “the world’s biggest online nature hub”.
The organisation has been working with Bath-based software development agency, Rocketmakers, to develop the ARK prototype. Due to be launched early in 2024, this will focus on UK species and content and will be the foundation for Wildscreen’s test and learn process, working hand-in-hand with its key user group – young people aged 13-18.
is needed now More than ever
The original version of Wildscreen ARK, ARKive, created by Christopher Parsons, a founding member of the BBC Natural History Unit and Wildscreen, was a huge, free, multimedia project documenting in excess of 16,000 endangered species with more than 100,000 videos, photos and authenticated fact files. At its peak, it attracted more than 12 million unique users per year.
The return of ARK is particularly timely in light of recent findings by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which discovered that young people aged 7-13 are becoming less connected with nature. Other studies show that this demographic struggles to identify the most common species, including blue tits and oak trees.
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) asleep on garden table, Ashdown Forest, Sussex, England. Pic: James Warwick/Wildscreen ARK
“The need to connect young people with nature has never been greater. We’re hoping that the return of Wildscreen ARK will be the catalyst to inspire the next generation to have a greater sense of curiosity with nature and feel empowered to take action to protect it,” says Wildscreen CEO Lucy Muir. “The project, which was retired in 2019, has been sorely missed by contributors, educators and young people, and so we’re delighted to bring it back at this crucial time.”
Main image: Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius). Pic: Iain Leach/Wildscreen ARK
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