SNH Area News
Forth and Borders Correspondents: Neville Makan, Caroline Crawford, Sarah Eno
Plateau of beans
Children from Slamannan Primary School in Falkirk staged an art exhibition during the winter to celebrate the return of a very special flock of birds to their area. The Slamannan plateau has
Scotland’s only population of bean geese and they’re one of only two flocks to visit the UK in winter. The primary school has been working with the local Bean Goose Action Group to help the children understand more about these rare birds. Following a visit to see the
geese, the children worked with environmental artist Andrew Mackenzie to create a range of art works. They launched the exhibition at the school, and over 100 people from the local community attended. The children produced some
fantastic pieces of work and learned all about the migration of the bean geese and their likely breeding grounds in other countries. “Everyone had a wonderful time,” commented Julie Bell, a teacher at the school, “and we hope that we’ve gone some way to increase interest. “The children really did show they
care about the geese and, realising that they’re the only flock in Scotland, began to feel a sense of responsibility for them. And we’re all looking forward to building on this interest through other projects being planned for the future.”
www.snh.gov.uk
21st century woodlands
We’re supporting a novel programme of events and courses linked closely to the idea of getting people interested in looking after woodlands for the 21st century. The Falkland Centre for Stewardship in Fife has developed the programme. Using local woodlands in and
around Falkland, the programme offers a range of opportunities for people of all ages to learn something new. The events and courses cover a range of topics including biodiversity, wildlife surveying, managing woodland, woodland crafts and woodland-based community businesses. The programme encourages
volunteers to get actively involved in different aspects of looking after woodlands. In addition, pupils from Bell Baxter High School (pictured above) in nearby Cupar have taken part in a week-long course on woodland and forestry. They’ve been able to make use of a new woodland education base recently built from local timber. There are also opportunities for the
public to explore the woodlands on Falkland Estate, using the network of paths and interpretation. The estate covers some 1,900 hectares, just under one-fifth of which is wooded, with the rest divided between arable farmland on the low ground and rough grazing on the hills.
Algae inspired art
Whitlaw Mosses NNR is made up of four mosses in the heart of the Borders. They’re the best examples in Scotland of a moss habitat known as base-rich fen. These mosses are particularly widespread in the Borders and consist mainly of peat-filled basins developed from former open waters. They still retain pools and capsules of water under the peat and floating vegetation. They also have a great variety of plants and insects, and are places to experience the beauty of damselflies, bogbean, marsh marigolds, rich coloured bog mosses and the elusive water rail. A Borders artist, Liz Douglas, has
been working on diatoms (a form of algae) collected from the reserve. Using their beautiful body structures as inspiration, she has composed a series of banners, including the one pictured above. These are being used in local exhibitions and were also selected for display in the Scottish Society of Artists 2011 event. Besides her own art work, Liz also
worked with local schoolchildren and staff on art and science themes. This project had the spin-off benefit of discovering one diatom on the reserve that’s very rarely been identified on any of our wetland sites.
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