New Development Officer for Nurturing Natural Connections

Hello everyone, my name is David Meechan, and I am the new Development Officer for Cumbernauld Living Landscape – que fireworks and dry ice as I emerge from the woodlands of Cumbernauld. I will be working on the development phase of the Nurturing Natural Connections project. You will start to see me more and more, out and about scouring the reserves of Cumbernauld, but I wanted to take this opportunity to show my face (here is my face below) and let you know more about myself. Getting to know me, before you meet me idea.

So, who am I? I am in essence an enthusiast of the outdoors and I have worked in the environmental conservation sector for around 9 years. I have worked across some fantastic habitats and sites across Glasgow, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and now Cumbernauld. I strongly believe participation in nature equals caring for nature and all the benefits that come with that – mental, physical and social. I started my journey in 2013 and I very much felt that this was the job for me. It made so much sense to me to pursue a career that conserves and protects wildlife and our beautiful landscapes with people from various backgrounds. The later part wasn’t initially apparent to me fresh from university, but as I learned more about the environment, I felt that people’s experiences we give them is just as important as enhancing biodiversity. I discovered this idea (that has been evidenced by many others before me) that if we do not provide these experiences and educate people along the way they will struggle to appreciate the land that encompasses them. We open eyes to the joys of looking deeper than the surface level and build a sense of appreciation and ownership of every strip of green. Helping people understand what’s that tree over there, why is that bird making that noise, where is that butterfly going? What relationship do we have with nature and how does it have an impact on us?

Impact being the key part of this Nurturing Natural Connections development phase. The first steps to this project will involve you, the people of Cumbernauld. I will be looking for keen participants to take part in some key surveys of invasive species and garden escapees on Scottish Wildlife Trust and North Lanarkshire Council reserves. We will be mapping the extent with which these are out competing native species and causing disease and problems for soil and wildlife on local greenspaces. We will be adding them in to a database across May to September to map the extent of the problem. They will help people improve their identification of invasive species / garden escapees and educate on how we might tackle them in the future as part of a long-term plan. So be on the lookout for the first sessions come middle of May! Hopefully by then it will be glorious sunshine – fingers crossed.

In the meantime, if you want to say hello, have a chat about the project or talk to me about how you can get involved in the Nurturing Natural Connections development phase get in touch. Send me an email on d.meechan@tcv.org.uk or give me a call on 07773200525.

Take care and hopefully meet you all soon.

David Meechan