“2012 is going to be EPIC!” – My immediate response after finding out I had been given one of BTCV’s Natural Communities Traineeships.
My placement, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (thank you!) and kindly given to me by Glasgow City Council, will allow me to engage with local communities within the city and encourage them to enjoy their green spaces and wildlife. Not only that, but I will be trying to increase biodiversity at the same time. I’v already started with wildflower planting at The Green Gym in Auchinlea Park last week and ensuring a hedgerow was managed properly at Darnley. It being my first day, of course it decided to snow!
Snowy Darnley
I am thrilled to be helping Glasgow City council attempt to inspire the people of Glasgow and get them involved in this city’s hidden treasures. Glasgow is one of, if not The, greenest cities in Europe, but many of it’s residents are unaware of this. I have been around Glasgow for a while now and within one week in my post I have been to more than double the parks and habitats I had previously been to during my time here. It’s quite shocking I know, but I hasten to add that Glasgow is HUGE. This is one of the reasons there are a lot of communities to be reached, at all corners of the city.
Over the next 12 months I hope to use this placement, and my ongoing training, provided by BTCV and the council, to reach some of these communities (North, South, East and West), to find out what they want to do, or achieve, within their area and help them do it! I will also be contributing to the community section of council’s environmental strategy at the end of this year and directing my experiences and outcomes towards this section. Hopefully this will ensure that communities are included in future conservation efforts. After all, conservation does not work without the help of local communities.
Tracker table at Edinburgh Zoo
My previous experiences include volunteering at Edinburgh Zoo using a variety of ways to engage communities and working with an NGO called The Colobus Trust in Kenya doing eco trails and environmental education.
This May as part of International Biodiversity week I’m proposing a MASSIVE piece of environmetnal art that will be erected on Glasgow Green by some school children from the community. But I’m not giving anything away yet… just watch this space!
It’s going to be EPIC!