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Duchess of Cambridge visits the Museum's Centre for UK Nature
The Duchess of Cambridge visited the Museum to hear how staff are working to protect UK wildlife.
Her Royal Highness paid a visit to the Museum's Angela Marmont Centre for UK Nature (AMC), a scientific hub dedicated to studying the UK's wildlife.
The Duchess of Cambridge met with the Museum's Director, Sir Michael Dixon, in addition to the head of the AMC Dr John Tweddle and the Head of Learning and Audiences Beth Stone.
She was shown some of the UK insect and plant species from the Museum's collection and heard how the Museum is empowering people to act for nature.
Her Royal Highness was greeted by the Museum's Director, Sir Michael Dixon ©The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
The latest State of Nature report published showed the perilous condition of the UK's wildlife.
Children in the UK are half as likely to visit green spaces as they were only a generation ago. It has therefore never been more important to spark young people's interest in wildlife. John and Beth are working to increase public knowledge of UK wildlife and to engage young people with the nature on their doorstep. The Museum has been forging partnerships across the UK to empower schoolchildren, families and communities to help protect wildlife in urban areas.
Her Royal Highness was shown some of the collections at the Museum ©The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
The AMC, open to the public and located in the Museum's Orange Zone, helps visitors to identify any plants, animals and fossils they may have found and brought in. It also provides training in wildlife identification so that people can start documenting UK species and participate in citizen science projects.
The AMC acts as a hub for individuals and wildlife organisations from around the country to look into how the UK's animals and plants are faring. The centre uses traditional identification techniques as well as more modern methods such as sequencing environmental DNA left behind as organisms move through the environment. This helps us to understand how and why the UK's wildlife is changing.
