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Fundraising has started for the Natural History Museum’s Urban Nature Project, a scheme which will allow the museum to turn its five-acre site into a free-to-visit educational outdoor space
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 28 Jul 2022
A weatherproof bronze cast of Dippy the Dinosaur will feature in the garden space Credit: Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum in London, UK, has launched a fundraising campaign to transform its five-acre site into a free-to-visit green space.
Scheduled to open in 2023, the Urban Nature Project aims to increase biodiversity, accessibility, opportunities for education and the usability of the museum’s grounds.
The plans feature a café and exhibition space below ground, on top of which sits a new green square at street level. The gardens will also double as a research facility, with researchers using it to monitor the city’s ecosystem.
At the heart of the gardens will be a weatherproof bronze cast of Dippy the Dinosaur – the museum’s famous diplodocus skeleton that stood in the museum’s entrance hall before being replaced by a blue whale in 2017.
In addition to offering nature to the masses, the redevelopment is also designed to improve flow around NHM, with a new entry point into the grounds opening through a pedestrian tunnel coming from the local underground station.
“The Urban Nature Project opens the door for young people to fall in love with the nature on their doorsteps and develop a lifelong concern for the world's wild places,” said Sir David Attenborough, a supporter of the project.
As part of a larger strategy, NHM is introducing "three great narratives", which will guide visitors around the museum based on the origins and evolution of life, the diversity of life on Earth today, and the long-term sustainability of humans' custodianship of the planet.
“Nature isn't just nice to have, it's the linchpin of our very existence, and ventures like the Urban Nature Project help the next generation develop the strong connection with nature that is needed to protect it.”
Those wanting to support the project can donate any amount they can online or alternatively can:
• Donate £50 to sponsor a square metre of the garden
• Donate £250 to engrave a name on the jetty railings
• Donate £500 to engrave a name with a symbol of nature
• Donate £5,000 – £10,000 to engrave a name on a long or standalone bench
Click here to find out more and donate
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