Natures Living Classroom

Aim

Our aim: Preserve Deer Park, Selkirk as a rare wildlife haven & Living Classroom—protecting nature while inspiring young people & community.

Who We Are

We are Bright Green Nature (BGN), a Scottish Borders charity (SCIO: SC051628) dedicated to protecting and restoring biodiversity and inspiring people to take meaningful action for the natural world. Founded on the belief that nature conservation should be both hands-on and people-powered, we bring together ecology, education, and community engagement to tackle biodiversity loss while equipping people with the skills and confidence to care for the land around them.

Our team is very small but deeply committed and above all, passionate about the natural word and peoples place within it. It includes ecologists, youth workers, educators, and trustees with expertise spanning conservation, public engagement, and safeguarding. At the core of our delivery is our Biodiversity Officer, who leads ecological monitoring, training, and mentoring for volunteers, schools, and our Young Rangers. We also have a Programme Lead who coordinates activities, partnerships, and outreach, ensuring that our conservation work is not only technically sound but also accessible and inspiring.

We could not do this without our network of volunteers, local partners, and community groups. Volunteers carry out species surveys, habitat work, and citizen science. Schools and teachers help embed our activities into the curriculum, while local researchers and students contribute valuable studies on grasslands, invertebrates, soils, and wetlands. At the heart of it all are our Young Rangers (ages 9–15) — an enthusiastic and brilliant group of young people who meet regularly with our staff to learn biodiversity skills, communication, and conservation leadership.

This combination of professional expertise and community passion allows us to deliver conservation projects that not only protect nature but also empower people of all ages to be active stewards of the environment.

Our Idea

Our project focuses on our site, the Deer Park, Selkirk — a rare 60-acre species-rich calcareous grassland with woodland edges and wet features. Sites like this are exceptionally scarce; only around 1% of these grasslands survive in the UK. Without management, they are quickly lost to scrub encroachment, fragmentation, or intensive land use. Protecting Deer Park is not just about preserving one place; it is about safeguarding a unique habitat type that supports a rich array of plants, insects, and other wildlife, many of which are locally or nationally vulnerable.

But Deer Park is more than a biodiversity stronghold. It is also a Living Classroom. Situated close to the town of Selkirk in the Borders and accessible to surrounding communities, it provides an outdoor learning space where schools, families, volunteers, and researchers can experience biodiversity first-hand. It is a place where people can move beyond textbooks and computer screens to learn practical conservation skills: from surveying butterflies to planting hedges, from monitoring bats to restoring ponds.  Despite being a rural area, young people are as disconnected from nature as much as anywhere else and we are working to give them the opportunity.  

Our idea is to combine practical habitat restoration with community engagement and education in one integrated project. This means:

• Using seasonal conservation grazing with native breed cattle or ponies to maintain the delicate balance of grassland species.

• Managing scrub and invasive plants to protect open habitat.

• Running curriculum-linked school sessions on grasslands, invertebrates, wetlands, soils, and climate resilience.

• Expanding our Young Rangers programme to weekly sessions and holiday workshops, offering skills like meadow creation, hedgerow care, pond maintenance, species identification, and biodiversity surveying.

• Creating a structured volunteer programme with practical training modules so participants can replicate skills in their own gardens, schools, or community green spaces.

• Hosting research students from universities and colleges to carry out detailed studies and contribute to robust long-term monitoring.

• Supporting citizen science projects like bird and bat bioacoustics and fixed-point photography, all coordinated by our Biodiversity Officer.

• Undertaking an innovative, carefully licensed Yellow Meadow Ant (Lasius flavus) translocation to restore vital soil-engineering functions that benefit the whole ecosystem.

In short, Deer Park will function as both a wildlife haven and a learning hub, where biodiversity and community thrive side by side.

Our Vision

Our vision is twofold:

Ecological vision: to protect and enhance Deer Park as a resilient, species-rich grassland habitat that provides refuge for threatened plants and animals. This includes maintaining high-quality sward conditions, creating diverse habitat mosaics, and monitoring indicator species to ensure we are achieving measurable conservation outcomes.

Social vision: to embed Deer Park at the heart of community learning and environmental action. We want every young person, volunteer, and visitor to leave the park not just inspired by its beauty, but also equipped with skills and confidence to take conservation action in their own lives. Through our Wild Your Space micro-grants, the knowledge gained at Deer Park is already being replicated in school grounds, gardens, and community spaces across the region.

Long-term, we see Deer Park as part of a people pipeline:

• Young Rangers (9–15) progress into Young Rewilders (16–24),

• then into adult volunteers and eventually local site stewards.

This builds a multi-generational stewardship network, ensuring the legacy of the project lives on in people as well as place.

How We Will Use the Money

Every pound raised will directly support both habitat management and community learning. Our budget is carefully structured and transparent:

• £8,500/year – Conservation grazing (stock, fencing, vet checks, transport).

• £7,000/year – Habitat works and site maintenance (scrub control, invasive species, paths, signage).

• £10,500/year – Living Classroom delivery (educator time, materials, support for pupils with additional needs).

• £6,000/year – Researcher hosting (student bursaries, field equipment, symposiums).

• £5,000/year – Monitoring & evaluation (bioacoustics, vegetation surveys, fixed-point photography).

• £5,500/year – Volunteer & Young Ranger programme (tools, PPE, safeguarding checks, transport bursaries).

• £17,471/year – Biodiversity Officer (part-time role providing ecological leadership, monitoring, and training).

• £9,000/year – Programme coordination and project management.

In Year 3, we will also invest £4,000 to design and publish a Living Classroom Toolkit, sharing our methods, monitoring results, and “how-to” guides for communities who want to replicate our approach elsewhere.

This means that donations will not only protect Deer Park but also help create a model of community-led conservation that can be used across Scotland and beyond.

Why This Matters

Grasslands like Deer Park are disappearing, and with them, the biodiversity they support. At the same time, young people and communities often lack opportunities to connect with nature in a meaningful, practical way. Our project tackles both challenges: protecting a rare habitat while nurturing the next generation of conservationists.

By supporting this crowdfunder, donors will:

• Protect wildlife in one of Scotland’s most threatened habitats.

• Provide young people with life-changing skills and experiences, helping them grow into confident conservation leaders.

• Empower local communities to take conservation into their own hands, with knowledge and resources they can apply in their own spaces.

• Generate valuable scientific data that will inform future conservation work across the region.

This is about creating lasting change: resilient ecosystems, inspired young people, and empowered communities.

Our Commitment

We are committed to transparency, safeguarding, and high-quality delivery. Our staff and volunteers are PVG-checked, we operate with clear risk assessments, and we report annually on biodiversity outcomes, participation, and learning. We will share results widely through community events, school partnerships, and publications, ensuring that the story of Deer Park is one of collaboration and shared achievement.

Conclusion

Our vision is simple but powerful: to keep Deer Park, Selkirk alive as a biodiversity stronghold and Living Classroom, where wildlife can thrive and people of all ages can learn to care for nature. With your support, we can restore habitats, inspire young conservationists, empower volunteers, and share skills across communities.

Every donation brings us closer to a future where Deer Park is not only protected but also a beacon of hope and learning for the Scottish Borders and beyond.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made