From the sun drenched woodlands in Tenerife to the snow covered trees of home, it was good to be back!
With the office quiet over Christmas, I decided to take off to a warm and sunny island in the Atlantic for a wee holiday. Whilst it was a bit of a shock to come home to snow, the beautiful crisp countryside and a chance sighting of a deer at the back of my fence made me glad to be back – I had missed Scotland’s wildlife!
The Cumbernauld Living Landscape has launched the Natural Connections project, which will work with local schools and communities to improve three important wildlife sites in Cumbernauld. St Maurice’s Pond, Ravenswood Local Nature Reserve and Cumbernauld Glen Wildlife Reserve all neighbour Cumbernauld’s high schools.
I’ve been hit by a touch of writer’s block these last few weeks and I couldn’t work out why! While out working on our Natural Connections project, I had a conversation with Justyna Pabisz our intern volunteer for the Cumbernauld Living Landscape, and she said “How do you think you are going to get inspiration sitting at your desk all the time, you haven’t been out of the office lately” You know what, she is right. So I made a concerted effort to get out a wee half hour before I started work to go to a site and just enjoy it.
I was recently given the opportunity to be part of an Erasmus+ programme to Bulgaria, to gain insight into how their natural assets are being managed in the face of economic pressure. With our wonderful guide Velis, we were able to enjoy a jam-packed programme, meeting many local experts to discuss the compromises between economic growth and protecting nature. The competing interests of nature conservation and tourism development within an economic recession echoes the challenges facing Scotland, so the exchange provided a mirror to reflect upon our practice back at home.
It has felt like the last vestiges of summer have been trying their hardest to cling on and keep autumn at bay last week. What beautiful weather we had! All summer I have been concerned that the temperature was just too cold for our dragonflies to emerge but in the past 2 weeks thanks to the good weather we have seen a burst of activity from these incredibly beautiful creatures. Thankfully the larvae stage can remain in the water for a number of years, waiting for the perfect conditions in which to hatch, if you ever go out looking for them and you are lucky you might even find an exuvia, the empty larvae case of newly emerged dragonfly.
It has been a really busy summer here at the Cumbernauld Living Landscape. As autumn is creeping up on us you would think that it would be a time of slowing down the pace but, like nature things are still going full tilt. Soon the leaves will be turning from the crisp emerald greens to umbers and crimsons, returning as much of the remaining nutrients to the tree before they become dormant in the winter ahead. Bats will be busy fuelling up during this time of plenty since the damp weather has been good for those pesky midges!
Along with two of my colleagues, I was recently given the opportunity to visit the West coast of Scotland as part of a sharing best practice visit. In two packed days, we visited Blarbuie Woodland Enterprise, the Scottish Beaver Trial, Auchinellan estate and the Kilmartin museum and gathered a wealth of information which we brought back to Cumbernauld.
I want to share my last blog with you as a Natural Community Trainee.
As a resident of Cumbernauld I have seen areas become overgrown and been angry that I saw nothing being done to tidy the place up, or make it feel safer… I didn’t have the skills and to be honest I wasn’t looking under the surface, it was too easy to blame others. The economy at present is pretty bleak with huge cuts to Local Authority spending. The area that has less impact on us and appears to be the easiest to take the hit is the environment. As the Community Engagement Officer for the Cumbernauld Living Landscape I have seen first-hand, the difficulties of trying to maintain one of the largest landscaped towns in Europe. But I have also seen the look of satisfaction on a volunteers face during an event or even when clearing a woodland of rubbish. If we, as a community don’t improve our surroundings, why should we expect others to do it for us?
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