Just a few days ago the winners of a competition to name a newly discovered species of tree in Tanzania were announced, with part of their prize being an invitation to come and spend a day here at Flamingo Land Resort Yorkshire.

The tree will now be named Polyceratocarpus askhambryan-iringae after competitive fundraising totalling nearly £4000 saw Askham Bryan College pip Iringae International School to the post. However, the college agreed to share the name with the local school in Tanzania to create this fantastic new name. Discovered by our Director of Conservation Science Dr Andy Marshall who is also a Senior Lecturer at University of York’s Environment Department, the Schools for Forests campaign was created in conjunction with environmental group CIRCLE after discovering the new species of tree in Africa.

CIRCLE is the Centre for Integrated Research, Conservation and Learning, a collaboration between the University of York’s Environment Department and Flamingo Land that aims to protect biodiversity, animal welfare and promote public understanding of the natural world.

We shall look forward to welcoming visitors from the college and school in Tanzania to appreciate the ongoing conservation work we do at Flamingo Land both at home and abroad.

Information regarding the Circle Project is available at http://www.circle-conservation.org/