Great News!!! After many months of hard work, community conversations, partnerships working and sheer determination, the SCAMP team has submitted an application under the Landscape Connections programme to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Landscape Connections is an ambitious initiative and represents a major commitment by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to not only preserve our natural heritage but to reinvigorate and protect it for future generations. As one of the UK’s largest investors in landscapes and natural heritage, we strongly believe that everyone benefits from landscapes rich in nature and beauty.”
This ambitious bid has been closely developed with our partners and, if successful, will be transformational for the Solway Coast’s coastal and marine biodiversity and its communities.
The bid includes projects which aim to deliver coastal and marine restoration, economic benefits to communities, offer opportunities for people to be actively involved through citizen science initiatives and provide learning across all age groups.
We are extremely grateful to our coastal communities and environment partners for their enthusiasm, great ideas and encouragement to help SCAMP to become a reality through this bid.
Karen Morley, DGC Countryside Development Officer has been instrumental in developing the SCAMP project and explains how it came about;
“The SCAMP project evolved out of work on pilot projects for the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and the recognition that many land based activities have a negative impact on our coast and marine environments, as a region we do little to protect and enhance that rich natural capital resource in the face of the nature/climate crisis. SCAMP was our response to that, we aim to be innovative and bold in our scope, creating a regionally and nationally important project which will set our region to be at the forefront of coast and marine restoration with our coastal communities at the centre of this ambition.”
Dumfries and Galloways councils project officer, Nick Chisholm, explains why the Solway is so special, of the Councils environment team said:
The coastline of Dumfries and Galloway is remarkable. Our seas are bathed in the warmth of the gulf allowing it to support one of the most diverse assemblages of marine and coastal wildlife in Scotland. From the shifting sands of the inner Solway to our dramatic cliffs in the west there are ecological niches unique to our region. Not all is well though, climate chaos will bring changes to this environment, SCAMP seeks to find a way to allow nature to adapt to this, building and growing our already diverse biodiversity.
The Solway Firth Partnership have been working with the Solway on both sides of the border and are a key partner on the SCAMP project. With a good understanding of the Solway’s Marine environment, SFP are working in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council and others on the evolution of SCAMP. Clair McFarlan, Partnership Manager of the Solway Firth Partnership explains,
‘Solway Firth Partnership are working closely with DGC to develop and deliver natural capital marine and coastal projects on saltmarsh, seagrass and native oysters. Our bid to the Lottery Fund is key to delivering at seascape scale a science led coastal and marine habitat restoration project which will help our natural world restore, adapt and thrive into the future.”
SCAMP provides many benefits to people living along our Solway Coast and has already built up a committed and connected group of “Coastodians” determined to help. DGC’s Education and Community Engagement Officer, Jan Hogarth explains,
Communities along the Solway want to help their coastal and marine environment restore and thrive. The SCAMP bid’s programme offers empowering ways for people of all ages to become actively involved in SCAMP’s habitat restoration and citizen science. The bid includes some fascinating opportunities for children and young people to become involved in the emerging field of nature restoration and benefit from the wellbeing aspects of being outside on our coast, helping marine and coastal biodiversity and reducing the impact of climate change for people and nature. There will also be economic opportunities for people and communities to evolve entrepreneurial ideas linked to this innovative work and to support nature-based tourism.
A strong partnership is what SCAMP is all about, where organisations collaborate and work together to ensure SCAMP works for people, nature, and climate. McNabb Laurie, Project Manager of D&G Woodlands explains why SCAMP is important for them and others;
“SCAMP has the potential to be a game-changer for habitat restoration in the region. Coastal woodlands are a vital part of the Solway Firth landscape, from single survivors clinging on to cliffs through to significant woodland cover at some of our visitor hot spots. SCAMP would give us a chance to identify, understand, protect and expand our coastal woodland and would highlight Dumfries & Galloways’ position on the front line of the response to our climate and biodiversity crises.
If this application is successful, the vision and ambition of Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Environment Team in pulling this together will be admired on the national stage.”
The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Landscape Connections strand was launched this summer 2024 and is a competitive process. The SCAMP bid is one of the first bids going in to be assessed first in Scotland and if successful will be send to a second stage UK selection panel in London. Please keep your fingers crossed that our proposal for the Solway catches peoples imagination, intrigues and inspires support.