Scouting and Natural Basingstoke

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Scouting and Natural Basingstoke

The Natural Basingstoke Nature Champion Badge

Discover, protect and celebrate the natural world.

Become a Nature Champion by learning about local wildlife, taking real-world conservation action, and inspiring others to do the same.

Whether you’re planting trees, spotting birds, or helping nature thrive at home — every step counts.

🎯 How to earn your badge

To earn this badge, complete four of the following activities. Choose the ones that interest you most, and adapt them for your age and ability.

📄 Download the Leader Pack (PDF)
Everything you need to run the badge, including activity descriptions, tips, and badge criteria.

Take part in two local projects to help wildlife. You could:

  • Plant trees, hedges or wildflowers in a local green space

  • Help restore a pond or riverbank

  • Lend a hand at a litter pick with your group or family

What will I do?

With a local NB conservation group, take part in at least two local conservation projects, such as tree planting, habitat restoration or litter clean-up.

Reflect on the importance of these activities and how they contribute to the local ecosystem:

  • Think about how you felt before, during and after the sessions.
  • Share your experience with your scout group or leader verbally or creatively.
  • Provide before and after photographs showing what your tasks achieved.
  • Tell your scout group or leader what else you learnt about the site.

Speak to your leader, to find a local group that you can help.

🌿 Practical Conservation – Suggested Activities

🦋 Random Acts of Wildness (Natural Basingstoke)
Easy, everyday actions to help local wildlife and green spaces.

🗑️ Go Litter Picking
Grab gloves and help clean up a park, woodland or nature reserve.

💧 Clean a Waterway
Help protect rivers and wildlife by removing rubbish from banks or streams.

🏞️ Hillside Conservation Champion
Improve soil health and prevent erosion with hillside-friendly activities.

🌱 Take on a Nature Conservation Project
Plan and deliver a local conservation action as a group.

🌼 Create a Community Garden
Grow food, flowers or wild plants to support biodiversity and community.

🌳 Learn to Lay a Hedge
Discover traditional hedge-laying and why it matters for wildlife.

🔄 Under New Management
Take charge of a green space and develop a wildlife-friendly management plan.

Join a project to help scientists understand how nature is changing. You could:

What will I do?

Take part in a citizen science project to understand the impact humans are having on nature. You could get involved with a national project (such as the Big Garden Bird Watch or the Big Butterfly Count) or a local project (such as a site survey with one of NB’s local experts).

Share, with your scout group or leader, verbally or creatively what projects you helped with, what it involved and what the results showed.

Do some research to find a suitable project and agree it with your leader. Some ideas can be found here: Random Acts of Wildness

🔍 Citizen Science – Suggested Activities

🦋 Random Acts of Wildness (Natural Basingstoke)
Try any of the links in our citizen science section to spot, and record species in your area.

🌳 Play “Guess the Tree”
Use leaves, bark or seeds to identify native tree species.

🐦 Go Birdwatching
Watch birds in your local park, garden or woods — can you ID them?

🦔 Explore on a Woodland Wildlife Hunt
Go exploring and discover insects, fungi, and other forest creatures.

🌱 Learn about Native and Invasive Plants
Learn which plants belong — and which ones are harmful to local ecosystems.

🕵️ Nature Detective
Track animal signs and solve clues to understand a local habitat.

📸 Photography Nature Hunt
Use a phone or camera to capture signs of wildlife and share your finds.

Make small changes in your home or garden to help nature. You could:

  • Create a bug hotel or bird feeder

  • Plant wildflowers or grow herbs

  • Take the plastic-free challenge for a week

What will I do?

Implement at least three sustainable practices in your daily life, such as recycling, reducing water usage, using eco-friendly products, or helping nature thrive in your garden.  

Keep a journal of your efforts and the impact they have on your environment.

Show your group or leader what you’ve done at home to help wildlife

Do some research to find a suitable activity and agree with your leader. Some ideas can be found here: Random Acts of Wildness

If you fancy having a go at composting, some excellent information can be found here: https://emmareed.net/getting-started-with-composting/#more-68994

🏡 Nature at Home – Suggested Activities

🦋 Random Acts of Wildness (Natural Basingstoke)
Fun, simple ways to help nature from your own home, garden or balcony.

🔁 Recycling Binception
Sort your rubbish and discover what really goes where — reduce, reuse, recycle!

💧 Reduce Your Water Usage
Learn practical ways to save water at home — every drop helps.

🌼 Make Wildflower Seed Balls
Create seed bombs to throw in your garden or local verge — perfect for pollinators!

🪴 Plant Some Seeds
Start a windowsill garden or grow herbs, flowers or vegetables.

🏨 Build a Bee Hotel
Give solitary bees a home using bamboo, wood or cardboard tubes.

🦋 Feed the Butterflies
Make a butterfly feeder from fruit or sugar water to attract pollinators.

🏠 Build a Birdhouse
Build and hang a nesting box to help local birds breed and shelter.

🪶 Make a Bird Feeder
Reuse simple materials like bottles or pinecones to feed garden birds.

Share what you’ve learned in any of the previous steps and encourage others to care for nature. You could:

  • Make a poster or video to raise awareness

  • Lead a nature walk or activity at Scout

  • Write an article in your local newspaper

  • Display your work at school or in your community

What can I do?

Create and share a something stating what “acts of wildness” you are doing to help nature and display for others to see. This could be in your school, local community centre or local shops.

This one is easy; all you need to do is to start part 3 and then use your imagination to create a way to share what you have done and encourage others to do something for nature!

📢 Spread the Word – Suggested Activities

💚 Green Hearts Campaign
Make and wear a green heart to start a conversation about what you love and want to protect in nature.

🌱 Nurture Nature
Share a photo, drawing or message to show how you’re helping wildlife or green spaces.

🌿 From Grey to Green
Turn concrete areas into something blooming — then share your transformation.

🎬 Community Impact: The Movie
Create a short film about your nature activity and how it helped your local area.

🦊 Wildlife Watch
Share what you’ve spotted and help others discover local wildlife.

🏞️ Create a Wildlife Reserve
Design and promote a space in your community where nature can thrive.

🌸 Find Your Favourite Flora or Fauna
Research and present your favourite plant or animal — why is it special to you?

📍 Local Knowledge Tour
Guide others through a local green space or nature trail you know well.

Attend  a Natural Basingstoke event like our stall at Beastly, Green Week or a BioBlitz! We host many events throughout the year that are a great opportunity to work towards many elements of the badge in one go!

What can I do?

Find out more about a particular area or species by attending a work party or event hosted by one of NB’s ‘green friends’.

Identify an event you would like to attend and then agree this with your leader.

Information on events can be found here: Events  A list of all our wonderful friends who you can help can be found here: Our Green Friends and Family.

Note: If you visited our stall at BEASTLY, you have already completed this activity! Simply show the sticker on your activity card to your leader at your next session. 

🤝 Attend a Green Event – Suggested Activities

🎪 Visit the Natural Basingstoke Events Page
Find upcoming local activities like wildlife walks, habitat days, and seasonal events.

🌿 Join a Session with a Local Nature Group
Take part in an event or work party hosted by one of NB’s partner organisations, such as:

  • 🦎 HIWARG (Reptile surveys)

  • 🦇 Bat Group (Bat walks or training)

  • 🐟 South East Rivers Trust (River quality checks)

🧩 Visit the NB Stall at BEASTLY
Take part in a fun hands-on activity and collect your Nature Champion badge sticker.

📧 Can’t make an event?
Email admin@naturalbasingstoke.org.uk and we’ll help connect you with something near you!

Tips

Safety

⚠️ Safety

  • Use gloves, tools and handwashing for practical tasks like litter picks or digging.

  • Supervise younger sections during events or when near water.

  • Use age-appropriate ID sheets or equipment for species surveys.

  • Check with NB or your section leader before using sharp tools or collecting samples.

💡 Tips

  • Let young people pick their own activities — giving them choice increases engagement and ownership.

  • Many tasks can be done at home, with their families, or during group nights — keep it flexible.

  • Combine badge activities with other Scout badge requirements (like Naturalist, Gardener or Forester) to maximise value.

  • Use nature journals, photos, or drawings to help Scouts reflect on what they did and what they learned.

  • Partner with local experts (like Natural Basingstoke, SERT or HIWARG) to enrich learning and ensure safety.

  • Some activities work well as a weekend session or special badge day — others can be split into quick 30–60 minute sessions.

🎖️ Linked Scout Badges

These activities align with other Scout badges — completing the Natural Basingstoke Badge can support progress in these areas:

📄 Download the Leader Pack (PDF)
Everything you need to run the badge, including activity descriptions, tips, and badge criteria.

🎖️ Request badge stock by email
Let us know how many badges you need and when you plan to award them.

🤝 Need support running an activity?
Natural Basingstoke can offer advice, activity ideas, or even practical help from our partner organisations. We may be able to:

  • Link you with local experts (e.g. HIWARG, SERT, Basingstoke Rangers)

  • Help you identify a local site for tree planting or surveys

  • Suggest suitable events or partner sessions for your group to attend

📧 Email us to request support
Please include your group name, location, preferred dates and the kind of help you’re looking for.

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