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Blue Plaques for Nature

What are Blue Plaques for?

The iconic English Heritage blue plaques commemorate a notable person who once lived in a particular place. There are over 1,000 English Heritage plaques in London and many other cities have long been operating their versions of the scheme, with more than 200 plaques in each of Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol.

Dirty Water was launched in January 2023 with the highly successful Blue Plaque action. Local groups across the country 'celebrated' the failure of their MPs to vote to protect our rivers and force water companies to reduce sewage discharge, by naming them on the plaque and publicly displaying these plaques around their waterways. You can find more details of this in the Wave 1 Action Pack here.

A Blue Plaque action is easy and effective. This time the Blue Plaques for Nature action will honour nature... one species at a time. The plaques will name non-human animals and plants allowing us to prompt both awareness and discussion of the drastic decline in many species.

This action can be used by XR Local Groups to:

  • Promote the Restore Nature Now march on Saturday 22nd June in London (see images below- Image 1 XR code points to the Restore Nature Now webpages)
  • Raise awareness about species lost or under threat
  • Promote and enhance a Water is Life Ceremony action in your local community
  • Increase knowledge and awareness of the history of your local river or waterway, by using a QR code on a plaque to point to information
  • Form and strengthen local alliances with non-XR groups
  • Grow your local group using outreach and onboarding

Restore Nature Now march ~ Sat 22nd June, London

Nature is in crisis and the UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries. Extinction Rebellion is joining with Chris Packham and many of the biggest environmental NGOs, such as: the RSPB, National Trust and The Wildlife Trusts for the Restore Nature Now march.

Find out more and get involved

When the Blue Plaques should go up

Get your Blue Plaque ready so they can all be launched together, nationwide, on the weekend of 1st-2nd June; and from then onwards, in the lead up to the Sat 22nd June march. This action can also be continued after the Restore Nature Now march to keep raising awareness and as publicity for your local events.

Should you go for guerrilla posting under cover of darkness, or with a song and dance ceremony? Again this is up to you. Could you put up five in the early hours of Saturday 25th morning for your neighbourhood to wake up to? Or perhaps your local group would like to stage an unveiling ceremony. Whichever you choose, seas the day! Make sure you take photos and upload them to the dedicated folder linked below (in Photos), and spread them widely on social media.

How to Create a Blue Plaque for Nature

Option 1. Download and print a ready-made plaque from a suite of templates (see below)

Option 2. Use the editable template and print your own plaque (see below)

  • In both cases, these templates can be printed on a standard domestic A4 printer. You can glue the plaque onto cardboard to strengthen it, or laminate it to make it waterproof.

Option 3. Order a commercially made Personalised Heritage Blue Plaque for £14.99

Blue Plaques Templates HERE

There are two sets of templates in two folders on the Dirty Water Google Drive:

  • one for XR groups
  • one for non-XR groups.

Having a set for non-XR groups means you can share the Blue Plaque templates with your allies and have the option to use the versions with the QR code that points to the Restore Nature Now website instead of the XRUK website Restore Nature Now page.

Both folders contain:

  • Two versions of pre-prepared templates with:
    • a QR code to use pre-22nd June
    • a Restore Nature Now logo to use during the RNN march on 22nd June
      Simply download and print the pre-prepared templates!

      Or create your own...
  • Written instructions on how to use the templates with a step-by-step 'How to' video [please read the instructions and watch the video].
  • An editable template for you to create your own Blue Plaque for Nature

  • A folder where you can upload your photos so they can be shared on social media and elsewhere.
  1. XR groups - the QR code points to the XRUK website Restore Nature Now page
  2. Non-XR groups - the QR code points to the Restore Nature Now website

How to place a Blue Plaque

How permanent you wish to make the fixing is up to you. You need to balance the permanency against any possible damage you may cause and whether you have permission to place a Blue Plaque. Easy to remove, no-damage options, which are of course therefore much less long-lasting, would include using blue-tac, double-sided sticky tape, string or wire twists around railings.

Where to place a Blue Plaque

Almost anywhere! The power of the Blue Plaques for Nature rests on them staying in place to get passers-by talking and thinking and on their wider impact via an image on social media. So think carefully about where you choose.

In some places, the plaques may remain in situ for longer, in others they're likely to be removed more quickly. However, given that the wording on these plaques is not directly political, nor is it targeting a particular individual, the Blue Plaques for Nature may be allowed to stay up for longer than, for example, the Wave One Dirty Water plaques.

You could place a Blue Plaque for Nature on a fence post by your local playground, or by the stile on a favourite woodland walk. Perhaps a café, corner shop, community centre or church hall in your neighbourhood would like to put one in their window. And lastly, of course – how about your own house? Have you always secretly wished you lived in a blue plaque house? This is your chance!

Remember - always take a photo of whichever location you choose and wherever possible, upload it to social media. Then like and repost others' posts to amplify!

Social Media

  • #RestoreNatureNow
  • #ExtinctionRebellion
  • #DirtyWater
  • tag @RNNMarch and @MPforNature in your X [formerly Twitter] posts

Photos

You can also upload photos to Dirty Water's Google Drive. We can all share them with others and use them for other actions.

Upload photos here:

Further information and reading

More than 100,000 known wildlife species depend on the freshwater ecosystem. And that's not counting the seas/oceans!

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