Solway Nature In The Spotlight
Zosia Wand, Cumbrian novelist
9th December 2020
ACTion with Communities in Cumbria (ACT) wants you to share your thoughts about nature where you live. Looking in particular at what is special about the nature of the Solway area, ACT wants your short videos and perhaps your written ramblings, in the lead up to some community (online) events, in the New Year.
There is a national programme to develop Nature Recovery Networks across the country, which includes the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Your words and videos will become part of an exploration by Natural England, into how communities value and talk about nature in these special places, and will help shape their plans.
Lockdown has made many people reflect on access to nature and how important it is to be able to get outside and be somewhere where you can feel ‘nature’. Countless studies have pointed to the well-being benefits associated with experiencing and connecting with nature. This doesn’t have to be a specialist connection. It could be as simple as walking the dog, enjoying the shade of a tree or feeding the birds.
“We want people to tell us what they see, feel, hear, taste and smell when they go outside. What do you notice and why is it important to you? What do you want the next generation to see?” says Fran Richardson, from ACT. “This conversation about nature on the Solway coast will turn into a piece of word art, by Cumbrian artist Zosia Wand, so we really want people to get their thinking caps on about the words and sensations and names they give things they experience in this landscape.” This work will also feed into the Cumbria Nature Reserve Strategy.
If words are not your thing perhaps you would like to make a short video instead; ACT will compile your short film pieces too. This will form part of this celebration of the Solway, and how it fits in the mosaic of the landscape and seascape around it.
You don’t need to be a great film-maker. Just take a short film clip on your phone or camera (no more than 60 seconds, ideally mp4) and send it to us
at nature@cumbriaaction.org.uk The film should show something you value or enjoy about the nature of the Solway AONB. Be imaginative and have (COVID-secure) fun doing this with friends and family.
In February there will be three community events to build on the story the films tell. If you would like to get warmed up for this why not take a notebook out to your favourite natural spot and really see and hear what is going on around you? Jot down some words (max 100 words) to share at a community session, or to email through to nature@cumbriaaction.org.uk beforehand.
Fran says, “ACT is working with Natural England and Solway Coast AONB to find words which can make public conversations about looking after nature easier, here and in other special places around the UK. It is really important that the language we use isn’t a barrier to working together, because everyone benefits from the natural systems at work around us everyday, and we all need to share in looking after them.”
If you would like to know more about this work, please contact Fran Richardson on nature@cumbriaaction.org.uk