{"id":1041093,"date":"2026-06-21T15:47:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T15:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1041093\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T15:47:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T15:47:32","slug":"erin-mcdaid-of-nottinghamshire-wildlife-trust-discusses-new-wildlife-banknotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1041093\/","title":{"rendered":"Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust discusses new wildlife banknotes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his latest column, Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust discusses new wildlife banknotes which will help highlight conservation efforts\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have a number of shared passions as a nation including the love of our fascination with talking about the weather, appreciating a good cuppa and making the most of every warm ray of sunshine as if it will be the last we’ll see for months. \u2014 writes Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We are often also described as a nation of nature lovers and our passion for nature shone through when The Bank of England asked what people would like to see on a series of future bank notes.<\/p>\n

\"BankBank notes grey seal. Photo by Martha Tressler<\/p>\n

Nature came out as the overwhelming choice in the public voted, yet some folks have sadly tried to frame this as part of phoney culture war.<\/p>\n

Subsequent gripes that historic figures were somehow being airbrushed from history feel rather like a case of locking the door after the horse has already bolted given that wildlife came top of the list ahead of architecture and landmarks, followed by historical figures and sport.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that a myriad of individuals has helped shape our culture and history including politicians, industrialists, social campaigners or scientists \u2013 nature is part of our culture too \u2013 as one of the panel who selected the shortlist of species, Nadeem Perera, said. \u201cThe wildlife of the UK is not separate from our culture. It sits in our football crests, our folklore, our coastlines and our childhoods. Giving it space on something as symbolic as our currency feels both overdue and significant.”<\/p>\n

\"BankBank notes vote. Photo supplied.<\/p>\n

When launching the public vote, The Bank of England stressed that nature is vital to our landscapes, ecosystems and is part of our daily life whether in terms of direct connect with it or through works of art, music and literature inspired by it.<\/p>\n

There is also growing evidence that nature is fundamental to the success of our economy – underpinning basic requirements such as clean air and water, healthy food and our health \u2013 making it even more fitting that wildlife will feature on the new notes.<\/p>\n

Historical figures as a focus for new designs have had a good run, lasting around 50 years and notes featuring people including Winston Churchill, Jane Austen and Alan Turing will remain in circulation for years to come – so now is the time to lean into what the public called for and get behind the vote to choose which species will feature.<\/p>\n

Wildlife already appears on banknotes in the UK, where mackerel, otters, red squirrels and osprey feature \u2013 and I\u2019m excited to see what will take pride of place on English notes in the years to come.<\/p>\n

\"BankBank notes vote. Photo supplied.<\/p>\n

The shortlist, compiled by a panel of wildlife experts including The Wildlife Trust\u2019s Katy Bell and Professor Dawn Scott of Nottingham Trent University, features eighteen different animals in three categories \u2013 mammals, birds and amphibians, fish and insects.<\/p>\n

Creatures include fox, hedgehog and grey seal, great spotted woodpecker, puffin and barn owl plus common frog, Atlantic salmon and buff-tailed bumblebee.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to see species featured that represent the diversity of our habitats, from woodland and farmland to urban areas and our seas. I\u2019m sure the panel had a really difficult job in whittling the long list down to just eighteen.<\/p>\n

\"BankBank notes Barn Owl. Photo by Elliot Smith<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so excited to see some of these wonderful animals feature on the next generation of \u00a35, \u00a310, \u00a320 and \u00a350 notes \u2013 which apparently will be even harder to counterfeit, as natural shapes and patterns offer more opportunities to apply the latest anti-counterfeiting measures!<\/p>\n

As well as celebrating nature, this new series of notes will also help to highlight that much of our wildlife is still under threat and in need of help. These new notes should also help put key species and efforts to restore them and their habitats in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

As the UK\u2019s biggest movement for nature, The Wildlife Trusts continue to restore habitats, advocate for better nature protection, and even reintroduce many of the species named on the shortlist. Together with local communities, we\u2019re fixing nature to fix the nation.<\/p>\n

The vote is open until July 3, and details can be found at wildlifetrusts.org\/blog<\/a> or bankofengland.co.uk\/banknotes\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We can all play a role in putting nature into recovery and what better way to start that helping decide which species will be talked about in the run up to the production of the new banknotes and so visible once they are in circulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his latest column, Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust discusses new wildlife banknotes which will help highlight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1041094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,13738,391,16,15],"class_list":["post-1041093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-london","tag-newark","tag-opinion","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116788884201551188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}