INTERVIEW: Ellie Harrison

Gardens are great places for kids - they can get some exercise, learn about nature, and then tramp mud all over your carpets. Brilliant fun. Ellie Harrison loves the outdoors too, having presented shows such as 'Michaela's Wild Challenge' and 'Wild About Your Garden'. She also has a new wildlife programme airing later this year.

Check out her clips reel to see some of the things she's been up to.

Ellie wants to see more kids enjoying nature, and she's being supported in her cause by a slightly unlikely champion - Barbie. While we may associate the plastic doll with not-particularly eco-friendly pink Ferrari's and posh frocks, aparently her new movie Thumbelina sees her hitching up her skirts and getting mucky in the garden. Maybe she's mellowing with age - she has just turned 50 after all...

Dads' Space: Hi Ellie, what are you up to right now?
Ellie: I'm filming a series for Discovery US, looking at what would happen to the world if something fundamental was taken away. For example, in the first episode, we're looking at the impact of a world without sunlight on the climate, the oceans and whether life could continue at all long after photosynthesis ended. We're also going to be see how the world will be without the earth's rotation and males, among other things.

Dads' Space: You're keen to get kids and parents involved in Ecology and wildlife in their own backgardens - why?
Ellie: Firstly it's a very easy way of connecting with nature and wildlife: you don't have to be in all-weather clothing and can even head out into the garden with a cup of tea in hand. And connecting with wildlife is a crucial part of wanting to conserve it. Secondly, because gardens are very important habitats for wildlife. Added together all our gardens are larger than our national nature reserves. Gardens have started to become a refuge for some wildlife, providing corridors and mimicking the variation of the better wild habitats. Bees fare better in these environments than in the wild and there is growing evidence that our frogs, toads and newts also have a better time of it in gardens than in the wild, where natural ponds have been drained.

Dads' Space: How should people begin?
Ellie: Plant a tree! Trees have been found to be the most dependable factor when it comes to attracting wildlife into your garden by: bringing in more invertebrates which knocks on further up the food chain; providing nesting spaces; and making the garden a wetter place which many species prefer for at least part of their life. Birch seedlings transport well and grow to a good size in ten years and tree whips are very cheap. Or just allow trees to grow where they have already started.

Add some kind of water. It really doesn't need to be a full size pond - even a dripping tap can be a drinking spot. By adding water, you will provide a place for pond life to develop; somewhere for mammals to drink; birds to bathe; mud for the nests of housemartins, swallows and solitary bees; and it will keep the the garden wetter.

Key pointers when building a wildlife pond are:

• Build next to good cover for mammals. Frogs, toads
  and newts spend more time out of water so make sure you have lots of cover and kick around before mowing up to the edge.
• Make deeper than 75cm so it won't completely freeze -
  or float a ball in it. The shockwaves of smashing ice can be detrimental to smaller pond life. 
• Have some part in the sun so that it warms quickly in
  the Spring and life can get going 
• Avoid having it near a tree because it'll get full of
  leaves and the liner maybe punctured by roots 
• Have a shallow beach or boggy area for bathing and
  mammals drinking and insects to flourish in. Any shape is fine, as long as it has shallow edge .
• Tap water is fine - chlorine will break down in a few
  days. Rain water is great but not always easy to get in big enough quantity.
• Avoid cleaning out in Spring when spawing is taking
  place - leave it until Autumn.
• Fish will denude your pond of any other wildlife and
  may need filters and pumps which disrupt other wildlife. Have two if you like fish. 
• Don't get upset about herons!

Dads' Space: What if you don't have a backgarden?
Ellie: There are many designs of bird feeders that you can use if you don't have a garden. Visit your parks or community gardens and look for wildlife there.

Dads' Space: How can you inspire your kids to get involved?
Ellie: By being enthused as a parent, it will encourage young people to be involved. Mini-beasts are always a great place to start - they're usually abundant in gardens (look under rocks and bark), weird enough to be interesting and important that children aren't frightened by them.

Dads' Space: Which animal do you feel most privileged to have seen in its native habitat?
Ellie: Three really stand out for me - the Komodo Dragon of Komodo Island in Indonesia, Desert Elephants in Namibia and Orangutans in Kalimantan. Komodo Dragons inhabit only a handful of small islands which are not easily accessible but it was really worth the effort. Desert dwelling elephants are only found in Namibia and Mali so seeing them in such seemingly harsh terrain was spectacular. And the first sighting I had
of an orangutan really knocked me sideways - it's a strange emotional connection that you get when you first encounter primates.

Dads' Space: You've climbed mountains, paraglided with red kites and swum with dangerous eels - what's been the most exhilarating experience?
Ellie: Putting my arm (up to my arm pit) down the throat of a crocodile to retrieve a data logger.

Dads' Space: You like to get involved - Have you ever said "nah, that's too dangerous" to any ideas when filming?
Ellie: Definitely! I'm not a big lover of heights. I didn't even realise until I was asked to do a bridge jump in South Africa and couldn't. But as a rule, I know that safety has been thought about and I'm not being asked to put my life in danger so I see it as my responsibility to step up and take a challenge. 

Dads' Space: Did your own parents inspire you in any way?
Ellie: My father set up a Good Life (Tom and Barbara style) at home when we were young. He built his own incubator, raised chickens and made yoghurts like a true hippy! I think he even wore leather sandals. And my Ma is the quintessential wildlife gardener. She's one of those gardeners who digs the whole vegetable patch, clears the bank and has a bonfire all before her muddy cup of tea - definitely not a knee-pad gardener. And her garden gets Muntjac deer, badgers, newts...

Dads' Space: Why did you decide to join Barbie's campaign to get kids in the garden?
I'm really passionate about creating natural environments and
encouraging wildlife into our gardens and this Barbie movie really shows
girls how important the world we live in is and how even the smallest
person can make a big difference .

Dads' Space: Did you play with Barbie dolls as a child?
Yes at my friend Polly's house - she had Barbie everything! Barbie open-top cars, Barbie houses and furniture.

Dads' Space: Tell us about Barbie's new movie Thumbelina?
Ellie: It's a really sweet story that explains all about conservation and wildlife but in a fun way. The movie gives a fresh twist to the beloved character of Thumbelina and brings the 'green' perspective to this classic fairytale. It's all about the tiny Thumbelina who lives in the flowers with her fairy friends. But one day she learns of construction plans that threaten her world and she must team up with a spoiled young girl Makena to save her home and her friends from destruction.

'Barbie Presents Thumbelina' will be released on DVD on 16th March. If you'd like to take your kids to meet Barbie, she'll be celebrating her 50th Birthday at Hamleys toy shop on Sunday 8th March. It's free to attend - expect fashion, arts and crafts, party treats and above all pink! For more details, visit www.barbie.co.uk or www.hamleys.com