About Cumbernauld Living Landscape

Cumbernauld Living Landscape is improving Cumbernauld’s greenspaces for both people and wildlife, while helping everyone in the community connect with the nature on their doorstep.

The initiative is a partnership between the Scottish Wildlife Trust, North Lanarkshire Council, Sanctuary Scotland, the James Hutton Institute and TCV, and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Cumbernauld is incredibly green— more than 50% of the land is greenspace, and we believe that everyone in Cumbernauld should benefit from this now and in the future. However, these areas are often disconnected from one another and many are not as good for people – or wildlife – as they should be.

Without good quality, healthy places people and wildlife cannot flourish. Working closely with the local community, we need to ensure that healthy places are at the heart of the town’s future. The Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s long-term vision is for a green network in the town, providing clean air, water and retreats from the busyness of everyday life.

 

Our vision

 

People and nature at the heart of Cumbernauld’s Future

 

By creating better greenspaces for people and wildlife and building a community network that connects people with nature, we want to see a Cumbernauld in which more people help nature, nature helps more people and more people help each other.

 

 

How we are achieving this

We are delivering a wide range of projects across the town that will improve habitats for wildlife, improve access to greenspaces, connect young people to nature, improve people’s health and wellbeing through nature and bring more people together to make a difference in their local community.

We’re improving habitats for wildlife in Cumbernauld’s greenspaces, and making it easier for people to enjoy these sites by improving the quality and accessibility of the paths in and around them. For example, we are actively managing 230 ha of urban woodlands, planting 12,000 native tress and restoring three peat bogs.

Through the creation of new paths and upgrading 5km of existing paths we’re improving access to nine natural heritage sites owned and managed by North Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

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Our schools programme is providing opportunities for 3000 primary school children to get involved in practical environmental projects, such as the creation of rain gardens and areas of wildflower meadow and naturalised grassland. Young people at risk of not reaching their full potential are taking part in a 6-month Natural Connections programme, where they are supported to develop skills and build confidence while improving their local greenspaces.

Teachers from schools across Cumbernauld and North Lanarkshire are taking part in workshops and training sessions to build knowledge and skills, enabling them to deliver outdoor learning to their students while utilising nearby greenspaces.

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We are building on the ‘Wild Ways Well’ approach successfully piloted by TCV and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. This takes a proven methodology – Five Ways to Wellbeing – and combines it with nature to bring added benefits. Through this programme at least 200 people at risk of mental ill-health, such as adults with additional support needs and people at risk of social isolation, will develop skills that enable them to use nature to manage their mental health. We’re also working with social care practitioners to integrate Wild Ways Well into their own activities.

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We’re bringing people together through our innovative Asset-Based Community Development Approach. Developing skills and unlocking capacity is integrated into all our volunteering, training and community engagement activities.

We’re building relationships with groups and individuals, identifying and building upon their strengths and connecting people who want to take action for nature.

Championed by Sanctuary Scotland, this approach will ensure that Cumbernauld Living Landscape leaves a legacy of groups, organisations and initiatives that continue to work together to support environmental improvements and the local community.

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To date, over 30 individual projects have already been delivered, from pine marten dens in Palacerigg to peatland restoration at Fannyside Muir. To find out more about our current activities visit the projects page.

Current projects

 

Our team

Contacts

 

 

 

Case studies

A unique partnership between Scottish Water and the Scottish Wildlife Trust ensured that the maximum environmental benefit was delivered from a major project to improve water quality.

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The return of the elusive carnivore the pine marten (Martes martes) to the central belt of Scotland captured on camera.

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Cumbernauld’s Langriggs date back to medieval times, but action was needed to reclaim these historic sites for the community and secure their future.

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Through this work volunteers from Carillion construction company learned new skills, have a greater sense of pride in their environment which they will hopefully take into their every day jobs.

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The state of Cumbernauld

This report sets out the current state of the landscape in Cumbernauld. It brings together a range of data to present a baseline for future change. The Cumbernauld Living Landscape principles and objectives are set out and indicators to measure progress are proposed.

Read the indicators