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Bertha Earth

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Growing a diverse network of young environmental leaders, storytellers and changemakers who reignite a great love for our planet. 🌍🌿👩‍🌾

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Growing a diverse network of young environmental leaders, storytellers and changemakers who reignite a great love for our planet. 🌍🌿👩‍🌾 by @berthaearthstories

Growing a diverse network of young environmental leaders, storytellers and changemakers who reignite a great love for our planet. 🌍🌿👩‍🌾 by @berthaearthstories

Growing a diverse network of young environmental leaders, storytellers and changemakers who reignite a great love for our planet. 🌍🌿👩‍🌾 by @berthaearthstories

If the wetlands could speak to the young people who visit it, what would it say?

At Walthamstow Wetlands, Bobbi, who works with young people at London Wildlife Trust, has an answer, and it’s one we hope every Ambassador hears. The wetlands are open to them, anytime, in whatever way they want to enjoy them. It’s somewhere they already belong. 💚

That idea sits at the heart of the Ambassadors Programme: connecting with ourselves, each other and the natural world, so that caring for it feels personal.

Part 2 of 3 🦆 by @berthaearthstories

Meet Bobbi, Youth Programme Coordinator at London Wildlife Trust, who shares what gives her hope for the future of places like Walthamstow Wetlands. 💚

@londonwildlifetrust is one of our Nature Connect partners, and @walthamstowwetlands is where many of our Ambassadors spend their Nature Connect Day: a big, open, wild space in the middle of the city, just a short journey from their schools.

For many young people, it’s the first time they’ve seen London this way.

Together, we invite them to notice, slow down and explore what nature means to them, and the people who care for this place every day help make that possible.

Part 1 of 3. 🌿 by @berthaearthstories

Meet Jianni from @alecreedacademy, who wanted to share an important message with everyone. 🌱

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, how you think compared to other people. Everyone can make a change.”

A little reminder that carries a powerful message: every voice and every action matters. 💚🌍 by @berthaearthstories

Meet Ambassador Laila from Queen’s Park Community School. 🌿

In her own words, Laila shares what it was like to join the Bertha Earth Ambassadors Programme: the challenges she faced, the fears she worked through, and how it changed the way she sees her connection to the natural world. 🌍 💚 by @berthaearthstories

When we think of nature, we might be inclined to picture its beauty: a lush forest, a stunning seascape, a graceful bird.

But as Paddy reminds us, the nature that needs protecting can also be found in grey, muddy and overlooked habitats, where some of our most unusual creatures thrive.

Deptford Creek is a brilliant example. Fish, crabs, egrets, critically endangered European eels and countless other species live alongside a dense urban landscape. It’s an unexpected place, teeming with life, and one that deserves as much attention and protection as the far-off places we more readily associate with natural beauty.

Part of Creekside’s work is helping people notice it. Visitors write private messages to nature on leaves before releasing them into the river. Paddy shares one of his favourite moments from last year: a young person’s message that simply thanked nature for everything it gives us to live.

As we prepare to send a new group of Ambassadors to Creekside for their Nature Connect Day, that’s the habitat, and the story, they’ll get to discover for themselves.

Part 2 of 2. Catch Part 1 to discover the objects the river gave back. by @berthaearthstories

For 25 years, the team at Creekside Discovery Centre have been pulling objects out of Deptford Creek, and the river never stops surprising them. 🔍

From as far away as California, some intriguing objects have found their way to Deptford Creek. Paddy, Learning Lead at @creeksidediscoverycentre, one of our Nature Connect partners, gives us a tour of the collection of items that have washed up along the river.

Phones and electronics, carefully removed before their batteries can leach into the water. Pottery and ink bottles from the factories that once lined the riverbank. Even a bottle all the way from San Francisco. There's pretty much everything you can think of, and plenty you'd never expect.

Together, these objects tell a much bigger story: of an area that has undergone rapid industrial change, a river that has endured decades of pollution, and, fundamentally, an ecosystem that continues to thrive and needs protecting.

We're looking forward to our new cohort of BE Ambassadors visiting the Creekside, exploring the habitats and wildlife that thrive in this unexpected pocket of nature. 🌱

Part 1 of 2 by @berthaearthstories

We’ve submitted our thoughts on the proposed content of the new Natural History GCSE. 🌍

Because what can look like apathy in young people is often something else entirely: a huge amount of care with nowhere to go. 💚

The Natural History GCSE has the potential to change that. To give young people real places to explore, evidence to gather, stories to tell and the confidence to turn care into meaningful action.

In our latest LinkedIn article, our CEO James Canvin asks whether this new qualification could be more than just another subject. Could it become an opportunity to rethink how young people learn about, connect with and act for the natural world?

Head to the Linktree in our bio to read our thoughts on the new Natural History GCSE. 🔗 by @berthaearthstories

🌱 Plants vs Polluters is coming to life! 🎲

This month, Eeshan, a Bertha Earth Ambassador alumnus from Queen’s Park Community School, joined us in the office to take the next step in developing his brilliant Project Planet Love idea.

Plants vs Polluters is a Top Trumps-style card game designed to help young people aged 8 to 14 learn about the environment and the changes affecting our planet, all while having fun.

We printed an early prototype, tested the instructions and played some very competitive rounds! Through playtesting, Eeshan spotted what worked, where the rules could be clearer and how to make the game even more exciting.

He also explored the characters, environmental themes, card designs and packaging, making decisions and shaping every part of the game around his vision.

We had so much fun helping Eeshan turn his idea into something we could actually hold, play and develop together.

We can’t wait for him to come into the office again so we can keep building Plants vs Polluters and bring his card game to life! 💚 by @berthaearthstories

“I felt like I could switch off while sitting in the tree listening to nature.”

Although he was away from home, Houssam loved his time at Jamie’s Farm. Looking back on the retreat, he spoke about long walks through the countryside, feeding animals, and chopping wood, a task that required patience and accuracy.

One of the moments that stood out most was overcoming his fear of dogs. After a difficult experience when he was younger, approaching the farm dog took real courage. With gentle encouragement and support, he gradually built up the confidence to stroke the dog, something he was proud to have achieved.

A quieter memory also stayed with him. During one of the walks, he spent time sitting in a tree, listening to the sounds of nature around him. It was a simple moment, but one that left him feeling calm and able to switch off from everything else.

Reflecting on his year with Bertha Earth, Houssam shared that the programme helped him think differently about the environment and the world around him.

Along the way, he also made new connections and friendships, getting to know young people he might never otherwise have met. by @berthaearthstories