Latest news with #CumbriaWildlifeTrust
BBC News
3 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Funding boost to aid Allonby Bay marine life protection
A unique stretch of coastline has been given £250,000 to protect its marine National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the money to Cumbria Wildlife Trust to highlight the important species living in Allonby 2023 the site was designated as England's first inshore Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA).Joe Harper, bay engagement officer for the trust, said the area was "really bio-diverse and ecologically important". The HPMA covers about three miles from Allonby to Bank End Farm and extends approximately three and a half miles out to Harper's role is to work with local people and businesses to bring a greater understanding of what the designation means and how they can benefit from said: "This is an area that's seen as almost pristine - it is really bio-diverse and ecologically important."It is home to sea squirts, anemones, cuttlefish, plaice, skate, thornback rays and reef-building honeycomb worms which are usually only found in Cumbria." As part of the project, Cumberland Coastal School will be working with the trust organising events for children to learn about the coast and the protected De Mello, the trust's west coast community officer, said: "Cumbria has three sides sea and we need to highlight that to the younger generation and encourage them to protect it."Mr Harper added: "This is going to be used as a benchmark for any other HPMA." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Lake District £65k farm project to plant hay meadows announced
A £65,000 project to plant hay meadows on farmland this summer has been Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) and Cumbria Wildlife Trust are working on the plan to support "rare and threatened" plants that provide "vital nectar sources" for pollinators like bumblebees, hoverflies, and across the Lake District have already been identified and farmers will work with the organisations in the next three months to sow and transplant seeds from other sites, the LDNPA farming officer Claire Foster said: "As the Lake District faces increasing challenges, the protection of species-rich grassland is more important than ever." 'Enrich the grasslands' "These habitats support nature, traditional farming systems, store carbon, improve soil and livestock health, and support pollinators, enhancing the landscape that underpins our food systems," she LDNPA said the Lake District had been shaped by hundreds of years of low intensity farming, made up of a combination of grazing and means such grassland has never been heavily fertilised or reseeded, making it "one of the rarest" yet most biodiverse grasslands in the UK, the authority St Pierre, grassland and pollinator team leader at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "Providing farmers and landowners with the opportunity to enrich their grasslands with rare and declining native plants, is a great step forward towards helping safeguard their future in Cumbria."The project is funded by BMW UK's Recharge in Nature project, a partnership secured by National Parks Partnerships. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Film festival showcases 'beautiful' restored bogs
A county's first film festival to celebrate the unique habitats of restored bogs will be held this summer. The Bog Film Festival which takes place at Gosling Sike, in Carlisle, will feature a series of short films showing the "beauty and brilliance" of the "vital habitats". Cumbria Wildlife Trust said there would also be question and answer sessions at the event on 10 July. A trust spokesperson said "peatland protectors and fen fanatics" were welcome to learn about its restoration work. "There will be short films about these vital habitats, showing their beauty and brilliance," the spokesperson said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to learn more about them and the work people are doing to protect them." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. New documentary to explore the secret life of bogs Rare birds appear on restored wetland 'in hours' Naturalist who helped protect bog awarded medal Cumbria Wildlife Trust
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Film festival celebrating Cumbria bogs announced
A county's first film festival to celebrate the unique habitats of restored bogs will be held this Bog Film Festival which takes place at Gosling Sike, in Carlisle, will feature a series of short films showing the "beauty and brilliance" of the "vital habitats".Cumbria Wildlife Trust said there would also be question and answer sessions at the event on 10 July.A trust spokesperson said "peatland protectors and fen fanatics" were welcome to learn about its restoration work. "There will be short films about these vital habitats, showing their beauty and brilliance," the spokesperson said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to learn more about them and the work people are doing to protect them." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Osprey chicks from second pair hatch at Cumbrian nature reserve
A second brood of ospreys have hatched at a wetland nature Wildlife Trust said that for the first time it had two breeding pairs at Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, near long-standing breeding pair, White YW and Blue 35, returned to the nest in March and laid three eggs, which hatched in a recently arrived second pair of ospreys have produced two chicks, which the trust said were "looking strong and doing well". Ospreys, which have a 5ft (1.5m) wingspan, became extinct in England in 1840 but were reintroduced in the migrate each year to Africa or Europe before returning to 35 and White YW first nested at Foulshaw Moss in 2013. The new parents, Blue 476 and Blue 717, are nesting near to the reserve's boardwalk and the trust is asking visitors to be cautious because they were "vulnerable to disturbance". Reserves officer Paul Waterhouse said: "It's great news to have not just one but two families of osprey chicks."Blue 35 and White YW, our regulars, are quite mature now, so it's good to have another younger pair starting to breed here - let's hope they return in the future."The ospreys can be viewed via the trust's nest webcam. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
