“A” may be for “apple” and “B” for bird… but should “C” be for carbon?
Zurich Municipal is hoping to get some important environmental issues on the agenda of schools across the country after teaming with TV host and Paralympic medallist Ade Adepitan (pictured) to launch a children’s book called “The Secret Garden Under the Sea, Seanna the Seahorse and Friends”.
Highlighting that some 92% of seagrass meadows have disappeared from Britain’s coastlines, and that some species of seagrass can take carbon from the atmosphere 35 times quicker than even tropical rainforests, it was noted that seven out of 10 parents of primary school aged children have never head of “blue carbon” and 55% did not know what seagrass is.
The new book aims to educate children and their parents – it was written by former headteacher Neil Griffiths and revolves around the adventures of Seanna the Seahorse and friends. Characters include a “murky monster” and the “emerald sea queen”.
“I adored reading as a child; I felt like I was transported to different worlds through books,” said Amy Brettell, managing director of Zurich Municipal in a Press release. “I am thrilled that we can now offer such positive materials to help primary school children understand the importance and benefits of seagrass to biodiversity and our own world.”
The campaign has been launched alongside Zurich’s partnership with the Marine Conservation Society, a charity aiming to help restore seagrass meadows across Britain’s coasts.
Adepitan was on-hand for the first reading of the book.
“Primary school is a really important time to educate children about all aspects of our planet and sustainability in a positive way,” he said. “This wasn’t something I had the privilege to learn about at school, so I feel passionately that we must take the opportunity to educate this generation to truly understand the topic.”
