Young Rangers

Exmoor National Park have offered their thanks to the St Georges Rd Co-op in Barnstaple and their members for supporting Exmoor Young Rangers through ‘CareMoor For Exmoor’.

By choosing this project as their cause, shoppers and the supermarket have raised over £1800 towards enabling the next generation to experience the wide range of skills and careers needed in the future, to look after special places like Exmoor and our wider environment.

A programme has been running this year, providing a chance for young people to get a real insight into many different aspects of Exmoor National Park and those that work and live here.

Young Ranger activities and residential learning opportunities have aimed to raise awareness of green careers and develop skills and confidence, with focus on climate change and additional workshops in schools. Over 1,800 young people across 23 schools, in fact have participated in our climate change workshops.

The programme has involved several teams across the National Park, including Forestry, Rangers, Learning and Engagement and Leadership.
There was great involvement from Exmoor Young Rangers at the National Parks UK Conference and they also attended this year’s National Youth Voice Conference in the Peak District, hosted by the YHA as part of Generation Green. They joined young rangers from around the UK discussing the future of our national parks and how to ensure they remain inclusive to all.

Exmoor National Park learning and engagement officer, Sophie Tyler, who organised the  Park’s first ever Young Ranger week, says:
“It’s well known that early life experiences can sow the seeds for a lifelong love of nature. Exmoor National Park wanted to focus on giving opportunities to young people that will most benefit from the programme – and by making it free remove one of the barriers in some of them doing so.
We thank co-op members for giving us their support and helping to inspiring the next generation of Park Rangers, who hopefully one day will go on to help protect these precious spaces that are vital for the health and wellbeing of us all”.