Biodiversity and Environmental Education Society (BEES) is a small charity aiming to grow national awareness and knowledge of nature and environmental issues through adult education: training and supporting all who love and are interested in nature to become skilled nature guides and go on to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with their friends, families, colleagues and communities.
We are currently running our BEE A Nature Guide training course, the first of its kind in the UK, in Suffolk and Norfolk with long-term aims to expand and cover the whole of the UK. The training covers numerous facets of the Natural Sciences from Ecology to Astronomy, Mycology to Earth Sciences, and practical skills in nature guide methodology, first aid, and map reading.
The course is open to all adults (18+). We believe that financial circumstance should not be a barrier to environmental education and try to ensure the course is kept as financially accessible as possible. As such, the fee to enroll on the course (currently £320), does not cover the full operating costs of running the programme. The charity relies on fundraising and donations to make up the remainder. No profit is made from running the course and the fee offers incredible value for money.
Although new to the UK, this training model has been successfully pioneered by our partners in Belgium the Cercles des Naturalistes de Belgique (CNB) since 1975 and they have trained about 10,000 ambassadors for nature so far. We are excited to bring this training method to the UK and help to develop and support a growing community of nature guides.
Our BEE A Nature Guide course is taught across two to three years. Year one comprises a series of outdoor guided walks and follow-up online theory sessions covering 22 subjects led by teachers who are experts in their respective fields. We are currently running year one of the course for the first time in Suffolk and Norfolk.
Years two and three are about formally and informally installing leadership/guiding skills and the confidence to convey information about nature to other people and give this information in a way that interests other people. In collaboration with the British Naturalists’ Association (BNA), we will organise training sessions in leading walks and encourage feedback from the BNA, other course participants and public participants.
Once their training is done and they have successfully planned and led their own guided walk as part of their examination, the certified nature guides will be encouraged to carry on leading walks sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with members of the public growing and maintaining nature awareness within their communities. Because climate change and biodiversity loss are current environmental issues that we all need to be aware of to make changes and better protect our natural heritage for us and future generations. We need your help to realise our goals in shaping our society’s understanding and relationship with nature.
