For the next year Barnaby will be travelling around Britain in the company of Gary Prescott, a 53-year-old special needs teacher from Rigby Hall Special School in Bromsgrove.
Gary is taking a year off teaching to cycle to every Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) reserve in the UK. The year-long ride will raise money for these important environmental charities.
Their journey will start at Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve, near to West Bromwich in the Black Country, on 1 January 2010. The reserve, usually closed on that day, will be open for people to come along and meet Barnaby and Gary and wish them good luck as they start their travels.
Gary and Barnaby's route will take them from Birmingham down to London, and on along the south coast. It has been carefully planned with consideration given to the weather at each time of year and where the best birds will be: corncrakes in June, smew in the winter, swallows in the spring... Download the full itinerary.
During the journey, Barnaby and Gary will also be visiting more than 50 eco-schools. These schools are committed to being 'green' by improving their environmental performance and awareness. These schools work towards achieving a European environmental award, the prestigious Green Flag, by making energy and water savings, by recycling and reducing waste and by educating their pupils on environmental issues through links in the school's curriculum.
Gary is one of over five million asthma sufferers in Britain and both he and Barnaby will also be using this time to increase awareness of the condition and promote the work of Asthma UK, a charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of asthma sufferers.
The whole year will be spent birdwatching, with an emphasis on promoting the work of these charities and increasing awareness of climate change. As no-one has ever cycled to every RSPB and WWT reserve before it will also be a record-breaking journey.
You can follow Gary and Barnaby's adventures here throughout 2010. For more details of where the pair will be on a particular day, or how to sponsor Gary, visit www.bikingbirder.co.uk.
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