Greater Manchester high school in national final of eco challenge on a mission to protect moss

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A team of pupils from Falinge Park High School in Rochdale are in the final of a prestigious environmental competition for their efforts to help moss thrive.

A team of school pupils from Greater Manchester has made it through to the national final of a prestigious environmental competition with a project putting them on a mission to save and protect moss.

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Falinge Park High School in Rochdale is one of five educational establishments in the final of OurEcho Challenge created by EarthEcho International, a global not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and protecting the world’s oceans.

The challenge asks groups of students to take a closer look at the biodiversity in their local areas, identify threats to the ecosystems on their doorstep and propose solutions to restore and preserve nature. The Rochdale students are working with an expert in mosses to help plants which can easily be overlooked but are vital habitats for an array of creatures and can help in the fight against issues such as climate change and air pollution to thrive.

What is Falinge Park High School’s entry to the OurEcho Challenge?

The team at Falinge Park High School is made up of three year nine students who came forward to take on the challenge of the competition after science teacher Rose Edmondson heard about it at a major conference in Sheffield.

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The contest was a good fit for Falinge Park as it already has eco champions and science ambassadors in school and works with bodies including Touchstones Rochdale, the town’s museum and art gallery, and the Canal and River Trust.

The school’s competition entry focuses on moss, which may not be the most glamorous or headline-grabbing aspect of our flora and fauna but is incredibly important as a microhabitat for invertebrates, which have seen huge and alarming reductions in their populations in recent decades.

The team then got in touch with an expert in Calderdale who is growing sphagnum moss to replenish it across the North West, including working in the Dovestones area in Oldham. The school is also hoping to grow moss on its site for use in its own garden.

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The team from Falinge Park High School in Rochdale which is in the final of the environment competition OurEcho Challenge. Photo: Rose Edmondson The team from Falinge Park High School in Rochdale which is in the final of the environment competition OurEcho Challenge. Photo: Rose Edmondson
The team from Falinge Park High School in Rochdale which is in the final of the environment competition OurEcho Challenge. Photo: Rose Edmondson | Rose Edmondson

The students are also getting the message out about the environmental and wildlife benefits of moss in the community and have set up a moss map which tracks where in Rochdale mosses can be found. They also want to grow and plant more mosses as part of local efforts to combat air pollution.

Rose said: “In the North West around 90% of our peatlands have been lost. Our moss expert has been telling the students what an impact replenishing moss has. At Dovestones last year it got so dry when it was really hot but because they had put moss back some of the birds at the reservoir still had access to food and water.

“Some people dismiss moss or just miss it, and sometimes they think it’s not great on their lawns, but we’re trying to change perceptions in order to improve biodiversity.”

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The Falinge Park pupils have also done eco work including installing wildlife cameras in the orchard and garden area to see which birds and other wildlife are visiting the green spaces and installing bug boxes.

What has been said about the OurEcho Challenge?

Regardless of what happens in the national final the Falinge Park team hopes to continue working with the moss expert to develop their knowledge further and keep working on conservation efforts. However, with three grants ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 up for grabs, being one of the winning teams would help them buy more propagation equipment and extend the project further into the local community in Rochdale.

Rose said: “The team is incredibly proud to be involved and it would mean a lot to them to win. That would be absolutely overwhelming and we would be overjoyed.”

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Rose also said that taking part in the OurEcho Challenge has got the young people practically involved in local environmental efforts, when tackling global issues such as climate change can often seem something that individuals can do little about.

Falinge Park High School has been monitoring the wildlife in its orchard and garden using camerasFalinge Park High School has been monitoring the wildlife in its orchard and garden using cameras
Falinge Park High School has been monitoring the wildlife in its orchard and garden using cameras | Falinge Park High School

She said: “This gives the students a local starting point to see things they can do in what is a global problem where they feel they can’t have much of an impact. We know there is biodiversity in Rochdale and we want to maintain that.”

OurEcho Challenge was set up by EarthEcho International, which was founded by Philippe Cousteau (the son of famous explorer Jacques Cousteau) to arrest species decline and raise awareness of the state of the planet’s oceans. Falinge Park and its four competitors are the first UK competitors to be finalists in the annual STEM competition.

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EarthEcho International says recent studies show shocking declines in biodiversity, wildlife populations and habitats, with more than a million species at risk of extinction and 75% of the land and 66% of the marine environment having been “significantly altered by human actions.”

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