Naturetastic Henry
Naturetastic Henry
Inspiring Young Conservationist: An Interview with Henry
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‘11-year-old Henry, a Junior Wildlife Ambassador for the Wildlife Trust, shares his passion for nature and wildlife conservation. From his childhood fascination with bugs to creating nature films during lockdown, his journey is inspiring. He discusses wildlife surveys, recent adventures in Canada and Namibia, and his goal to merge scientific research with environmental communication. With a powerful message on nature's importance for well-being, Henry encourages everyone to embrace their voices for conservation, reminding us of the wonder found in nature.’
Henry, for those learning about you for the first time, can you please introduce yourself
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Hi, I’m Henry, I’m 11 years old and I love the natural world. I’m a Junior Wildlife Ambassador for the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, which is a nature charity in the UK. I love exploring wild places, nature reserves and amazing landscapes in the UK and abroad.
What initially sparked your interest in nature and its conservation? When did you first realise you wanted to make a difference and begin acting upon it?
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I’ve always loved nature from when I was very young, and would always be in the garden looking for bugs and birds. My parent’s have a video of me from when I was first starting to speak, I’d just put some food out for the birds and just stood there shouting “Birds, birds, Birds, we’ve got some food for you”, and then being very confused why nothing was coming!
As I got older, I watched a lot of nature programmes from Octonaughts to Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60 to all of the David Attenborough documentaries.
When I was 6 years old Covid hit, and we went into lockdown, we couldn’t see my Grandparents but we’d just moved into a new house with a lovely wild garden, so I started making short nature films for them. When we were allowed to visit nature reserves again, I wanted to continue making these films because it was fun to make them and it was great to show other children and adults why nature is so amazing!
It was because of these videos, that I shared on my YouTube Channel ‘Naturetastic with Henry’, that the Wildlife Trust asked me to be their Junior Ambassador.
Your main interest involves the monitoring and research behind conservation efforts, can you tell us more about this?
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Ever since I visited the Great Fen, which is a nature reserve near me that is restoring farmland to the natural Fen state, I have been fascinated by the science that happens behind the scenes to make these project happen.
I started out by helping with some of the wildlife surveys, and have been lucky to spend time with the Head of Monitoring and Research at the Great Fen learning about what they day and why they do it.
I’ve helped with Vantage Point Surveys looking for Raptors, Glowworm surveys, Bat Surveys and Water Vole Monitoring. I’ve also been able to observe the Stonechat ringing with colour rings, which I then follow up by looking for the ringed birds when out and about and recording their location.
Helping with a Water Vole Survey on the Great Fen
It’s important to understand how the different projects doing, and how the work being done is having a positive (or not) impact so we can make sure we are doing the best for the conservation of our nature.
When I’m older, I’d love work in this area of conservation as a Monitoring and Research scientist.
Are there any projects you are currently working on that you would like to share?
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For a couple of years, I’ve also be volunteering with the Bat Conservation Trust doing a waterway survey for Daubenton’s bats in the summer. This involves surveying the same 1km stretch of river on two nights during August to count the number of times the bats pass along the river at each 100m point on the river. I also take part in their Sunset Survey’s which can be done by anyone at home and next year I will be a Youth Ambassador for them to help promote these surveys.
You recently returned from visiting Canada and Namibia, as well as the Isle of Mull in the UK. Can you tell us what you were doing in these places? And did you have a great time, Henry?
Over the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to visit some amazing places in the UK and abroad. This summer we visited British Columbia, Canada which was incredible!
Exploring Canada
The highlights of this trip were Bald Eagles, Hummingbirds and Steller’s Jays from the avian world, at sea we saw Orcas, Humpback Whales, Sea Otters, Dolphins and Sealions and on land the Black and Grizzly Bears were awesome!
The scenery was incredible, from the mountains to the vast ocean, and we loved Vancouver Island which is surrounded by lots of smaller, tranquil islands teeming with nature. I also had my first taste of White-water Rafting, which was an outstanding adventure going down the river near Whilster.
Swimming in the Waterfalls in Canada
Canada was very different to Namibia, where we spent time in the desert. Early on in the trip we got up really early, while it was still dark and headed to Dune 45, a 5-million-year-old sand dune, standing 170m tall and climbed it before sunrise. We sat on the top, looking out over the Namib Desert as the sun rose creating amazing orange, pinks, yellows and reds across the whole landscape.
Later on with spent time in the Etosha National Park, one of the highlights here was a nighttime safari. We left camp, driving only using a red searchlight and soon saw two large male lions drinking. Further on, we had amazing views of a recent hyena kill, and then watched as the Hyena pack was chased of by a female lion who came in and stole the antelope carcass.
The Water hole in the Etosha NP, Namibia
We also had an incredible hour sat watching a waterhole as the sun set as over seventy Elephants came down to drink. The younger elephants drank first, then then mothers and baby elephants drank, and finally the large bulls and matriarchs took a turn. The baby elephants had lots of fun playing in the water hole.
Both of these trips really made me feel alive seeing all the amazing wildlife.
Back in the UK, we took a trip to the Isle of Mull, an island of the coast of Scotland and Ardnamuchan in the mainland. The area is teeming with wildlife, including Otters, White-tailed Sea Eagles and Whales and we spent each day exploring different areas. On the first day we visited one of the lochs and almost immediately saw the White-tailed Sea Eagles soaring over head – they are huge and I can see why their nickname is the ‘Flying Barn Doors’.
Exploring the Loch Shores in the Isle of Mull
Later on in the trip, Dave Sexton who was the RSPB officer on Mull took me and my family out for the afternoon to learn more about the reintroduction of these birds, and the challenges and successes they experienced.
Our visit to Mull and Ardnamurchan was made better because of the guides we had for our two days of touring, Jack Waldie and George Hassel from NatureScotland were able to show us so much from Round-leaved Sundew hidden in ditches to Golden Eagles spiraling up into the clouds.
On all of these trips, I had an outstanding experience, and it makes me want to explore more and help to protect these incredible wild landscapes.
What countries would you like to visit in the future?
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I’d love to visit Costa Rica because of the rich biodiversity that occurs there. I love Hummingbirds, and would love to see them there! It sounds like an amazing place, and I’d love to have an adventure exploring from the beach to rainforest and everything in between!
Do you see yourself as a modern-day Sir David Attenborough? Would you like to have your own documentary series in the future to help further educate people about the environment and promote awareness? If not, what would you like to be?
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I think Sir David Attenborough is a one-of-a-kind, but I do like it when people compare my films to his work! His message how if people don’t know about something, they won’t understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t care for it really resonates with me.
I’d love to combine the Monitoring and Research Science side of conservation with communication – so maybe a documentary series about the scientists working all around the world on amazing projects would be cool! I’d love to highlight the work being done by organisations all around the world, but especially the British Antarctic Survey team because Antarctica looks amazing and definitely on my bucket list of places to visit!
And lastly Henry, what message do you have for others out there about our earth, what do you wish people knew or should know?
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I think it’s really important that we all can shout about what we believe and want to protect, don’t worry about other people, do what matters to you. We all have a voice where you are young or old!
I was really proud to be invited by the Wildlife Trust to speak at the Restore Nature Now march in London this year – I wrote a speech about what Nature means to me, and was able to deliver on behalf of children’s voices at the event. There were nearly 100,000 people marching that day, and to standup and talk in front of them was a bit scary to start with, but once I got going it was an incredible experience.
I spoke about how nature is important for people’s wellbeing, especially as nature is really calming and grounding for me, and also the amazing things you can see in nature. The big message was to ask the Government to put in place the legislation and structures to allow nature to be restored in the UK
Thank you, Henry, for taking the time out of your day to inspire others. At this stage, you are welcome to add any additional information you feel the audience should know about yourselves or share additional stories.
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I’ve recently started blogging on my own website, so I can share longer stories about adventures I’ve had from big trips to days helping the Wildlife Trust team.
In May next year, I’ll be undertaking a charity challenge which I share details about later, but I’m really looking forward to it and will hopefully raise lots of money for the charities working across the Fens.
Words of Wisdom
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If you just get outside, there is wonder in nature everywhere. It doesn’t need to be somewhere special, if you look you can find plants, bugs, birds and bigger animals making a home anywhere and sometimes the smallest creatures can be the most fascinating!
To continue following our explorers Naturetastic Henry’s journey or simply want to reach out and say Hi, you can connect with them on the following accounts:
@NaturetasticWH
@NaturetasticWH
Bluesky
@naturetasticwh.bsky.social
YouTube
Youtube.com/NaturetasticWH
Blog
www.NaturetasticHenry.com
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