Solway Nature Network
Much is known about the birds and Natterjack toads in the area but there is less information about the whereabouts of other plants and animals.  In 2018 CBDC and the Solway Coast AONB invited local people to help discover more about the natural history of the Solway.
Image © SolwayCoastAONB.org.uk
A group of volunteers were recruited and through a series of guided walks and training sessions begun to develop their wildlife identification skills and start recording what they saw.
Between April 2018 and July 2019 CBDC received over 1,000 records from the volunteers covering 585 species and some volunteers even undertook personal projects including mapping native bluebells.
To be a good recorder requires practice and one objective for the project was to link the volunteers into other recording activities so they could continue their learning.  As a result volunteers have joined the Get Cumbria Buzzing project, CBDC recording days and are taking part in the National Plant Monitoring Scheme.
A small exhibition about the Solway Nature Network project was due to be shared in venues in the area in the Spring of 2020. Unfortunately, due to CoVid19 this was not possible.
DOWNLOAD: Solway Nature Network Species Report here (PDF).
This project has been supported by a grant from Cumbria Community Foundation and the Robin Rigg Community Fund. Additional funding for field identification books was given by The Hadfield Trust.
