Hello to all from the beautiful city of York, which is my base for the next 12 months and the focus of my NN project.
I am sharing my time between the Conservation and Ecology section of the Design Conservation & Sustainable Development department at the City of York Council (CYC) and the TCV York local office.
My title is Community Wildlife Officer and the aim of my project is to consider green spaces within York, to develop site based proposals within the framework of the Green Infrastructure network, and to implement those proposals.
Absolutely central to that aim is community engagement, as the ideas for those proposals will come from local communities and the same communities will be key to their implementation and future maintenance.
I think I have been very lucky in that the conservation officer at the CYC and my mentor at the TCV office had both done lots of preparation for the start of this project, which meant I was able to start contacting people and setting up meetings straight away. So far I have met with leaders of existing communities, sent emails to leaders of groups not usually involved with projects such as these, visited more than ten sites which have project potential, attended a course run by the CYC on community engagement and been out on task days, planting trees, hedging and fencing.
Ponies on Skipwith Common (NNR): Conservation has conserved the Exmoor
I am very excited to have conservation, the creation and enhancement of habitat and the welfare of communities at the centre of my working day. Previously I worked as a Land Agent for a ‘for profit’ organisation where monetary return per hectare had to be the driving force behind all management decisions. I’m very much looking forward to assessing land and drawing up management plans where the desired outcome is some more birdsong, the glimpse of a Speckled wood butterfly, an increase in the feeling of wellbeing of local people and improved community cohesion as the return on investment!
I have also volunteered at the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital in Norfolk and quickly came to realise that many wildlife casualties are the result of the activities of man, so it will be good to be working to protect, increase and enhance wildlife habitats and people’s understanding and enjoyment of them.
Biodiversity on Skipwith Common.
Of course all of this has to be delivered in the real world and the money to deliver these great outcomes has to come from somewhere, so I will be enthusiastically studying spreadsheets of potential funding agencies and charities, and learning about making funding applications. I have already been hearing tales of the frustrations of having enough to get started but not to sustain a project…that must also be my aim.
It has been great to read about how you are all getting started; although the central purpose of all the projects is very similar, the environments are so different…I look forward to reading future blogs.
Good luck!