Celebrating Isle of Man's Natural Environment
The beauty, diversity, and potential fragility of the Isle of Man's natural environment are being honoured through a week-long series of events.
The annual Manx Wildlife Week encourages people to engage with the island's countryside, glens, hills, and sea, along with the plants and animals that inhabit these areas.
Organised by Manx National Heritage (MNH), the events unite experts and enthusiasts from various environmental and conservation charities and groups across the island to share their knowledge with the public.
The programme includes more than 25 events such as beach cleans, bird watching, countryside walks, workshops, lectures, talks, and a macro-photography field walk.
Origins of Manx Wildlife Week
First launched in 2018, the week originated from the island's participation in an online wildlife atlas.
Laura McCoy, MNH's curator of natural history and organiser of the week, explained the motivation behind the event.
"While people could access lots of information online, 'launching a website is a little bit boring'.
So we thought well how about we try and celebrate the work behind the scenes and the different groups that are involved in that process of collecting all that data?"
McCoy added that the event has since gained momentum.
"More and more people are ready to put their time into partnering up with us, which is really lovely."
Audience and Activities
McCoy described the week as encompassing a variety of activities.
"A mixture of creative pursuits, scientific pursuits [and] also just fun."
She noted the event is designed for all ages.
"It's about all ages as well – so the kids can enjoy it, but also adults, if they're a little bit more serious and want to do something that's a bit more scientific,"
"Not everybody is interested in the super-scientific stuff; some people just like going on a lovely walk and some people like connecting to their environment in different ways, so we thought 'Well let's mix it up a little bit'.
And I think it's really worked because we get hundreds of people every year getting involved in these things."
Events Scheduled for This Year
- Bee trail drop-in with Friends of the Earth (FoE), at the Green Centre in Douglas, 10:00–16:00 BST (free)
- Birds of the coast for young birders with the Manx Ornithological Society, at Scarlett, 10:00–12:00 (free)
- Wildlife Obstacle Course with Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT), at the Children's Centre, 10:00–11:30
- Secrets of the Shore – sharks, skates, rays and more with MWT, at The Vollan, North Ramsey Beach, 12:30–14:00 (free)
- Nature's Apothecary with the Manx Herbalist, at the Wellbeing Garden in St John's, 14:00–15:30
- How to Battle Invasive Plants with Friends of the Neb, at The Raggat, 11:00–12:00 (free)
- Behind the Scenes Tour of Natural History Collections with MNH, at the Manx Museum, 11:00–12:30 (free)
- Macro-photography: A technical field walk, at the Ballaugh Curragh, 9:30–12:30
- A Walk Through Time – Our peatlands past and future, with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa), at Beinn-y-Phott, 10:30–12:30 (free)
- Minibeast hunt with MWT, at the Onchan Community Wetlands, 15:30–17:30 (free)
- Managing your garden for fungi with the IoM Fungus Group, at the iMuseum, 19:00–20:00 (free)
- Nocturnal Nature with Manx BirdLife, at the Langness Nature Reserve, 20:00–22:00
- Rockpooling for all ages with the MWT, at Douglas Beach, Summer Hill Road, 16:00–18:30 (free)
- Nest Monitoring on the Ayres NNR with the Defa, at the MWT's Ayres Nature Discovery Centre, 18:30–20:00 (free)
- Rainforest under construction guided walk, with MWT at the Glion Darragh Nature Reserve, West Baldwin, 18:00–20:00 (free)
- Morning Birdsong with Manx BirdLife, at the Tynwald National Park and Arboretum, 08:00–10:00
- Wildflower Seed Papermaking workshop with MNH, at the Manx Museum, 11:00–12:30
- Wetland Wonders with the Invertebrate Group, at the Curragh Wildlife Park, drop-in 11:00–15:00
- Garden advice for very wet and dry with FoE, at the Green Centre, Douglas, drop-in 10:00–16:00 (free)
- Spring Walk with the Manx Bat Group, in Silverdale Glen, 20:30–22:00 (free)
- Dawn chorus mindfulness morning and concert with MWT, at Ballaugh Old Church, 05:15–08:00 (free)
- Meditation and Guided Walk with the MWT, in Onchan Wetlands, 10:00–11:30 (free)
- Seawatch with the Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch, at The Sound, 11:00–13:00 (free)
- Get to know your terns, with the Defa's Ayres Warden, at MWT's Ayres Nature Discovery Centre, 14:30–15:30 (free)
For further information and stories from the Isle of Man, visit the BBC website, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC , and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
