TALENTED youngsters had their artwork unveiled at a nature reserve.

Essex Wildlife Trust’s Thurrock Thameside Nature Park was delighted to welcome 80 primary school children as part of this year’s Coryton Energy funded art project.

Pupils from Quarry Hill Primary, Dilkes Academy and Holy Cross Catholic Primary visited the restored landfill site near Stanford-le-Hope to unveil the artwork they had created in their schools.

Each school were allocated a habitat to study, from woodland to marsh and meadows to ponds.

Working with artist Sue Lynas of BeeCreative, the students created an artistic interpretation of the wildlife found above and below ground in each habitat.

Their amazing work has been used to form a stunning display in Essex Wildlife Trust’s Thurrock Thameside Nature Park Visitor Centre, for all to enjoy.

In the morning the pupils from three of the schools visited their respective habitats for real at the Nature Park; taking part in activities such as pond dipping, bug hunting, reptile spotting and birdwatching.

After lunch the children were congratulated on their efforts by Essex Wildlife Trust’s Chief Executive Dr Andrew Impey.

He told the young artists: “What you have created is really outstanding, the detail and artwork captures what is unique about each habitat.”

Before, the children were given the opportunity to see their finished designs for the first time.

The children were excited to see how their individual work contributed to the overall scene of each habitat and were quite rightly proud of their achievements.

Four boards host the 3D art work, featuring foxes and badgers, birds of prey and waders, even worms and butterflies.

They will be on display throughout the summer holidays.

Essex Wildlife Trust is the county’s leading conservation charity. It has more than 37,000 members, manages and protects over 8,400 acres of land on 87 nature reserves and two nature parks and runs 11 visitor centres.

There’s no entry fee, but donations are welcome.