main content Stepping in the right direction at the walking festival

Following last years success, this year’s walking festival is going to be bigger than ever before! From the 23-31 July, over 40 free walks will be held across the Borough. The walks range from family strolls to 8 mile hikes. They include woodland and bird walks and ‘built heritage’ trails. This festival will give everybody the opportunity to explore the Borough, learn about the value of wildlife and get out into the fresh air.

Walkers can choose to -

• take a 5 mile walk through ancient woodlands and meadows around Petts Wood;
• try their hand at being a mammal detective at High Elms;
• join in the Butterfly Safari at Scadbury Local Nature Reserve; or
• stroll through the historic centre of Bromley.

‘We are fortunate to have a wide range of wildlife and habitats in Bromley that are easily accessed from our extensive rights of way network. This festival is an opportunity for people to sample some of their local green spaces and to learn about our ancient woodlands or nationally important grasslands’ said John Bristow, one of Bromley’s Park Rangers.

The festival aims to encourage people to appreciate the green spaces and wildlife in the Borough and to bring walking to a wider audience. It will also highlight the health and environmental benefits of walking, and inform bring walkers upto date about the work being done towards the Bromley Biodiversity Action Plan - The Future of Darwin’s Wildlife in Bromley.

The event programme is available from libraries, sport centres, civic centre, High Elms Nature Centre and Bromley Field Studies Centre.

This Festival is part of the SUN Project, which is funded through the EU-LIFE programme. For more information on this and other SUN events check the website www.bromley.gov.uk/conservation or call 020 8313 4665.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• a full programme of walks for Bromley Walking Festival can be downloaded at www.bromley.gov.uk.
• the London Borough of Bromley, along with six other partners (London Boroughs of Sutton, Richmond and Redbridge, CIP (A leisure trust for the London Borough of Hounslow), Global to Local (consultants), Legambiente (an environmental organisation in Rome)) has been successful in a bid to the EU LIFE Environment Programme to support the SUN project ‘ Sustainable Urban Planning Networks for Green Spaces’. The project, ending in August 2006, will build on good practice to develop innovative approaches to improve the involvement of the local community in biodiversity. The processes will be developed through the existing Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for the Borough.
• ‘Biodiversity’ is life in all its various forms and relationships. It encompasses the whole range of living things; animals and birds, trees and flowers, insects and fungi. It also includes the complex relationships between them and their physical surroundings. Biodiversity is not just about the rare and threatened species. Just as important is the wildlife we see and experience everyday. Everyone who lives in the Borough can play a part in helping to conserve wildlife for current and future generations to enjoy. The Bromley Biodiversity Action Plan (BBAP) is part of a commitment to conserve and sustain this variety of life.

For media enquiries, please contact Andrew Rogers, Communications Advisor, on 020 8461 7670 or Guy Harewood, SUN Project Officer on 020 8313 4665 or email andrew.rogers@bromley.gov.uk.