Nature festival is open to all

You can learn about the natural world at thousands of sites and events across the country this weekend.

THE third annual Nature Festival will be taking place all over the country this weekend. It is a chance for families to learn about flora and fauna and how to protect natural habitats.

Several thousand events are open to all across the country and they will be led by nature professionals as well as trained volunteers to give information to visitors.

Visitors can also join in special guided walks of natural sites, where they will learn to identify trees, flowers and insects.

Some sites are being opened specially for the Fête de la Nature and visits will be led by expert guides.

Ger more information from the website www.fetedelanature.com
Where you can type in your location and get details of local events.

Last year more than 300,000 people took part in 1500 events, organised by 400 local groups.

Families can also help in a survey to find out more about house-martins, robins and the black redstart. Birds are seen as a good measure of bio-diversity and the study aims to find out how conditions have changed.

Researchers from the French Natural History Museum have asked amateur birdwatchers to help in the study. Get details from this website.

Photo: A red admiral butterfly snapped in La Manche
by Wwarby