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.
Abronhill Primary School and Nursery Class have been commended for their environmental action by winning a national award. The schools nature garden and tree planting programme have helped improve Cumbernauld’s environment. Children have been busy working to enhance their playground, as well as a nearby Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve. Pupils spent hours weeding and planting bulbs and new trees.
Cumbernauld's finest with #VampireSquirrel - Looks like Sandy may have bitten more than he could chew!
The beautiful Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Cumbernauld Glen, was the showcase for our first ever Halloween night nearly three weeks ago now. Seeing how much effort it took to plan, organise and deliver got me thinking about all the work in the background that also helped it become such a success. Little is thought about the background works, they fade into comparison of the fun had but without them, quite simply, the event would not have been able to take place.
The Natural Connections project has set up a regular Sunday group and is looking for new volunteers. The group meets on the first Sunday of every month to carry out practical conservation tasks at St Maurices Pond, Cumbernauld Glen and Ravenswood Local Nature Reserve. These activities are open to all and no previous experience is required as training will be provided.
Ravenswood Local Nature Reserve is a cracking we jewel in Cumbernauld. Over the past couple of weeks I have been taking organisations out on site visits to see how we can raise the awareness of the community and encourage them to use the spot. I have had many comments from the people in these organisations, remarking how wonderful a place it is and rightly so, Ravenswood LNR is a fabulous mosaic of habitats with a great range of wildlife. It does have a problem though – Invasive Non-Native Species!
The Cumbernauld Living Landscape weekend volunteering programme kicked-off to a fantastic start. Recently, we were in Cumbernauld Glen helping to support new path works that had been completed thanks to funding from North Lanarkshire Environmental Key Fund. By simply clearing away vegetation, laying weed matting and adding a layer of stones, we can help to reduce the volume of herbicide needed to control weeds and prevent paths from becoming over grown. In the four hours we were working (ok three, it was hot and we needed breaks) we managed to support 60m of path.
Invasive non-native species…urgh! This is the term used for any plant or animal that has been introduced to an area, either accidentally or on purpose, that has taken hold and started to outcompete local wildlife. They are a massive headache to us all; from damage to property, health issues, soil erosion and flooding, they cost the Scottish Government £250 million a year.
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?
It has been a very successful year and the team is expanding. We are currently recruiting a full time community engagement officer and two summer volunteer interns. These posts, based in Cumbernauld, will share our pride in the town's greenspaces and be on the front line of efforts to make them better.
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