Young nature enthusiast wins gold in our Time for Nature Challenge

A special nature challenge aimed at celebrating Dartmoor’s 70th anniversary of its National Park status has named its first winner.

Wildlife enthusiast Thomas Ford, aged 11, from Bath, successfully completed the National Park’s Time for Nature Challenge. 

Thomas is the first young person to complete the challenge and was invited to Haytor to receive his framed gold certificate before he and his family enjoyed a special guided tour around East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve. 

The Time for Nature Challenge is all about making time for wildlife, making new discoveries about the world around us and feeling inspired to protect it for the future. People taking part were able to choose from a range of challenges with points awarded for each activity. The more points people collected, the higher the award. 

Over the course of the challenge, Thomas collected a total of 86 points and earned himself a gold award. He was presented with his certificate by Dartmoor National Park’s Outreach and Interpretation Officer Andy Bailey. 

Andy said: “Thomas has done a fantastic job doing activities which have helped him get closer to nature from walking bare foot through a meadow to building his own water feature for wildlife. 

“Dartmoor has incredible wildlife, habitats and heritage. The Time for Nature Challenge is all about enjoying nature on Dartmoor or wherever you live and playing your part to help look after it.”

Find out more about taking part in the Time for Nature Challenge.