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Headline: RAW VIDEO: Fern The Diplodocus Crowns Natural History Museum's New Gardens
Caption: Visitors to The Natural History Museum can now see a new attraction - Fern, a brand-new bronze Diplodocus, who takes her place in a Jurassic-themed garden. From Thursday (18July2024) the gardens, which will also be one of the most intensively studied urban nature sites globally, will be open to visitors big and small. They can explore, rest and connect with urban nature in the free-to-visit green space in the heart of London this summer. To mark their opening, a stunning new bronze cast of the Museum’s much-loved Diplodocus has today been unveiled, standing proud within the gardens. Following much speculation, the new dino resident’s name Fern was revealed by local school children. The five acres of green space wrapping around the Museum’s much-loved building have been transformed into two outdoor living galleries ripe for exploration: the Nature Discovery Garden supported by the Cadogan Charity and the Evolution Garden. The Evolution Garden allows you to discover a journey from deep time to modern day. Learn about 2.7 billion years of history of our planet, told through the immersive timeline of plants, rocks of different geological periods from across the UK, and gleaming representations of reptiles, birds and mammals. Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum, said: “We are incredibly excited for visitors to get lost in nature and the story of our planet, stretching back 2.7 billion years, as they explore our completely transformed gardens this summer. Beneath the graceful gaze of our newest dinosaur Fern, two immersive outdoor galleries are already teeming with wildlife. It’s the perfect place for all to connect with and learn about the nature on our doorsteps.” It begins with an awe-inspiring canyon clad in ancient stone from Scotland. As visitors emerge from the canyon into the Evolution Garden, they will be greeted by the graceful gaze of Fern. There’s also second bronze dinosaur at Fern’s side, Hypsilophodon which was native to the prehistoric UK. Both dinosaurs stand within the Jurassic Garden, supported by Kusuma Trust. Meanwhile, the Nature Discovery Garden is a space for visitors and scientists alike to find out more about the extraordinary wildlife on our doorsteps today. An accessible sunken pathway winds between the ponds, where frogs, newts, dragonflies and mandarin ducks have already been spotted making themselves at home. As part of the garden, the Nature Activity Centre supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a purpose-built space for learning about the urban nature on our doorstep. It combines facilities for scientific work, a training space for future urban ecologists and a hub for school workshops and family activities in the gardens. Dr Gurr added: “We know that for people and planet to thrive, we must act to support urban nature recovery. As well as a new way for visitors to engage with the Museum, our reimagined gardens will play a vital role in understanding how nature in our towns and cities is responding to a changing planet, and how we can better safeguard it.” The transformation of the five-acre site is part of the Museum’s Urban Nature Project, responding to the urgent need to monitor and record changes to UK urban nature and support its recovery. As well as a place for visitors to explore the diversity of life on Earth, the gardens are a living laboratory, and one of the most intensively studied urban nature sites of its kind in the world. Scientists will observe wildlife and collect eDNA samples from the gardens. A network of 25 scientific sensors will also gather environmental and acoustic data – from underwater recordings in the pond and the buzz of insect wings to bird calls to traffic noise – to help them understand how urban nature is changing and what we can do to support its recovery. Once fully installed, the network of sensors in the gardens will collect up to 20 terabytes of audio data in the first year. To date, 57,000 visual wildlife observations have been uploaded to the Data Ecosystem, from historic data from the Museum’s wildlife gardens since 1995 right up to the transformed gardens opening in July 2024.
Keywords: fern,diplodocus,dinosaurs,natural history museum,feature,photo,video
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