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Even with the chilly air and shorter daylight hours, a prominent conservation charity and a well-known television wildlife presenter have joined forces to encourage more people to engage with the natural world during the colder months.

New Campaign Aims to Enhance Outdoor Engagement

A new campaign titled “Wild Senses” is being launched alongside a recent television series where the wildlife expert showcases the British yearly cycles and urges viewers to notice, value, and re-engage with local wildlife.

This comes as a recent survey indicates that many individuals feel detached from the outdoors in gloomier, chillier months. Although the vast majority stated that time outdoors boosted their mental health, only one-third felt equally connected with nature throughout the year.

Enjoying Autumn’s Sensory Experiences

The wildlife specialist shared that fall is one of his preferred times of year, full of the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. From birds arriving to overwinter in the UK to the flavor of wild mushrooms, there is plenty to discover.

“In my view, autumn is the season to engage every sense,” he said. “Let’s go for sight: the foliage hues are stunning. There’s the sight and sound of what I call the seasonal shift as the summer migrant birds head off to Africa and the winter thrushes and pink-footed geese arrive.”

He continued, “With a bit of knowledge, you can gather wild mushrooms. And the red deer rut is happening right now. Get up, go to the middle of a large park, take a seat, and just listen to those deer calls. There is so much that people can listen to, experience, touch, perceive, see. Fall is probably the ideal time for it.”

Nature is All Around Us

One of the key messages from the presenter’s program is that nature is everywhere – in urban areas as well as the wilds.

“As an illustration, you have the fastest living creature, the urban raptor, residing in our metropolises,” he said. “You’ve got one of the most intelligent, which is the pigeon. You’ve got one of the most cunning, the city fox. We’ve got badgers, spiny creatures, all sorts of treasures. Sometimes in our urban environments it might seem like there is no nature. But if you just take a little minute, you’ll be astonished at what you can find.”

Poll Shows Time-Based Gap in Nature Engagement

In the survey, nine out of ten of participants said that spending time in nature had a very positive or moderately good impact on their health. But only about a third stated they felt connected with nature throughout the year uniformly. Just 13% said they felt most connected to nature in the fall, while for winter it was a only tiny percentage.

Fresh Resources to Promote Deeper Nature Connections

To motivate people to engage with nature more deeply, the organization has launched a fresh initiative with a no-cost mobile application, featuring three guided routes in major cities that showcase green and blue spaces.

The chief executive of the heritage group commented: “The outdoors is not only in our protected areas, it’s in our gardens, streets, and community green spaces. Considering the autumn, it really does offer a sensory feast: the crunch of leaves, the scent of damp earth, the texture of horse chestnuts and the flavor of wild fruits. This connection is crucial for our wellbeing, especially as darker days arrive.”