News: May 2004

The Prison Service has created a new post: Wildlife Officer. Its first incumbent is convinced of the benefits of putting inmates in touch with nature.

England's 130 or so prisons cover some 15,000 acres of land, some of it is already environmentally important, but all of it has the potential to turn around the lives of many of the prisoners. The new Wildlife Officer, Phil Thomas is setting up partnerships where inmates can do work for organisations like the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and Game Conservancy Council or just tend gardens within the prison grounds. Thomas said "We want to get prisoners working in the community on nature reserves outside prison walls to give them skills and basic qualifications so they can get jobs when they get out".

Sandy Mitchell. 2004. Looks like a plant to me, Guv. Viewed on the web at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1125242,00.html on May 31st 2004.