AI-generated nature walk highlights climate change

A new woodland walking route designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) has been opened to highlight climate change.

The "unconventional" trail at Irchester Country Park in Northamptonshire is inspired by changes in animal and human migratory patterns as a result of greenhouse gases.

The route was plotted using an AI algorithm that combined local wildlife data with information provided by park rangers and the local community.

The pink and yellow waymarks also function as butterfly houses.

Maps are provided at the start of the trail but its designers are encouraging walkers are to use their "intuition" to navigate between each marker.

Fermynwoods Contemporary Art worked with Irchester Country Park and artist Beccy Mccray to design the route.

James Steventon, the director of the charity, said: "We are trying to encourage people to go off the beaten track and perhaps think about other species which migrate and what it feels like to have to walk a new path.

"The posts help people navigate, but they also act as homes for butterflies, particularly the Red Admiral, which we discovered are overwintering in the UK because of climate change."

Ms McCray said: "Irchester really stood out for me, as the landscape was so unusual and playful, with its steep furrows and ridges.

"The woodland was formerly an ironstone mine and this harmful, extractive activity is what led to the playful landscape we now see, and the hill and vale habitat which now attracts wildlife such as muntjac deer, badgers and butterflies."

The waymarkers can also be seen from a woodland path that is suitable for wheelchair users.

Funding for the project was secured from Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s Creative Climate Action Fund.