A national exhibition has been launched to improve children’s happiness by connecting them to nature.
The Big Bugs on Tour at intu Watford brings children and adults face-to-face with 12 giant sculptures of British bugs.
The exhibition was launched after a study commissioned by intu found that being closer to nature makes you 67 percent happier. But one in six children (16 percent) had not seen a bug in six months.
The initiative is supported by naturalist Chris Packham and features insects including the honeybee, ladybird, hornet, swallowtail butterfly and the nut weevil.
The campaign aims to reconnect children and their families to natures as the report shows the children are better at identifying Pokemon characters than British wildlife – despite a £10 million pledge from Government to encourage children to become closer to nature.
Naturalist Chris Packham said: “We are facing a crisis in our countryside.
“I haven’t seen a single butterfly in my garden this year and more needs to be done to reconnect people with nature and start caring for and realising the importance of the bugs in your backyard.
“Intu’s Big bugs on tour is to shine a big magnifying glass on this and also putting bugs into school classrooms and is a fantastic initiative to alert to the importance of nature in our lives.”
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