Activities
John Muir Award
Many schools visiting Arthog choose to incorporate the John Muir Conservation Award into their adventure activity programme. The Award requires participants to discover and explore wild places but then do something positive to contribute towards their conservation. The main focus for our conservation work has been the removal of rubbish - especially plastics - washed onto the local beaches.
In 2012 more schools visiting Arthog took part in the John Muir Award than ever before.1431 primary and secondary school pupils achieved the Discovery Award from the John Muir Trust, making Arthog the largest provider of the award in Wales. The Centre was recognised for its important contribution to conservation and was shortlisted for the final of the prestigious Keep Wale'sTidy Awards.
A key factor in the success of the project is learning about the harm plastics can cause to wildlife in the marine environment. Once everyone understands the importance of the job we are undertaking they tackle the task with enthusiasm and commitment and collectively remove hundreds of bin bags of debris each year.
Stepping into an adventure at Arthog is a lot more than simply experiencing a challenging activity. To take part in the activity you have to journey into wild places and that's when the discovery and learning really has an impact. There is no substitute for learning from first hand experience and putting in the effort to improve the marine habitat is a powerful way of engaging young people in conservation and developing positive attitudes towards looking after the environment.