Outdoor Nature Exploration | Mentors Trained at the Wishing Star Park

Photo credit: Tao Zi

On January 18, 2019, Shanghai Roots & Shoots successfully carried out a Natural Guide Training at Shanghai Disney Resort Wishing Star Park. The training includes four educational activities: bird watching, plant identification, bird migration and food chain.

Shanghai Roots & Shoots has committed to the environmental education for youth since 1999, aiming to enhance the protection awareness of wildlife, plants and human living environment.

This is a picture of Common Kingfisher. Photo credit: Liang Sheng

Wishing Star Park has become one of the best spot for bird-watching in Shanghai because of its design in line with nature and its scientific management of natural phenology. A total of 20 species of birds were observed that morning, including Common Kingfisher, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Black-faced Bunting, Common Magpie, Crested Myna, and the Donald Duck on dock. New bird watchers said it was first time for them to know that swimming birds may not be ducks. They could be Little Grebe, or Common Moorhen. Even ducks have their own names, such as Mallard and Eastern Spot-billed Duck.

Rosemary. Photo resource: Internet

A mysterious guest(friend) who knows every corner of the Wishing Star Park was invited to  guide a special botanical tour that afternoon. With his kind guidance,  they observed  plants with fragrance, such as sage and rosemary. They also know the name of many familiar plants, such as Hokkaido poplar, Nerium oleander and Japanese pittosporum.

Finally, all the participants gathered at the Starlight Amphitheatre to play two games: one was about bird migration, the other was about food chain. Migration is filled with many challenges for birds.  From pollution to habitat destruction, birds face many obstacles during migrating.  In the game, volunteers “migrated” from one end of the space to the other, encountering some of the threats real migrating birds face. After the game, they fully understand that human activities had seriously affected bird migration, as well as the survival of migratory birds，They also realized wildlife and environmental protection requires lots of efforts and practice.

Daurian Redstart, a winter migrant in Shanghai. Photo credit: Liang Sheng

In the food chain game, volunteers created a simplified food chain and acted out the interactions. They were given different name tags including grass, rabbits, and eagles. Then they began to tear the name tag on the back of each other. When the tag was torn, it means they were eaten. This game conveys a basic concepts of food chains, that is each food chain consists of producers and consumers (herbivore and carnivores).

The Natural Guidance Training ended along with laugh. Shanghai Roots and Shoots hope through enjoyable environmental education to have more and more people appreciate and respect the beauty of Nature, and build a better and sustainable future for all living things!