How the CEI is helping to deliver the central scotland green network

The CEI will be working with our partners and other organisations to deliver the Central Scoland Green Network. In particular we will be helping to ensure that integrated habitat networks are established across East Ayrshire.

In August 2011 we were successful at securing £12,560 from the Central Scotland Development Fund to work on a Wetland Habitat Enhancement Project which aims to benefit both wildlife and the rural economy around the River Nith and Lugar Water by encouraging landowners to work together to access the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP).

The project will target environmental management of wetlands to benefit diffuse pollution and water quality. Wetland enhancement will help birds such as farmland waders and animals like bats and water voles.

Natalie Fleming, CEI Project Manager, believes this project is an important step in enhancing the ecological opportunities in the area and hopes that this initial work will lead to a much bigger scheme.

She said: “This project will help improve water quality in the area and has the potential to bring significant benefits to the rural economy, local communities and to biodiversity. We will be holding a workshop for land managers in October 2011 and are hoping to secure additional funding to enable us to offer further support in the region.”

The project highlights the possibilities for connecting wildlife habitats at a landscape scale. Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson said the funding would result in real action on the ground: “The CSGN project is the biggest greenspace project of its kind in Europe and aims to change the face of central Scotland, by restoring, transforming and greening its landscape”

The Central Scotland Green Network

The East Ayrshire coalfield region lies within the CSGN area. The Scottish Government’s second National Planning Framework identifies the CGSN as a national priority, which will deliver:

“...a step change in environmental quality, woodland cover and recreational opportunities...[and] make Central Scotland a more attractive place to live in, do business and visit; help to absorb CO²; enhance biodiversity; and promote active travel and healthier life styles”.

The ten goals identified for 2030 are:

to ensure that every home in Central Scotland is within 300m of an attractive, safe, and well-maintained green space or accessible countryside.

to improve the green infrastructure of all our major towns and cities by investing in green and blue space, tree planting and sustainable urban drainage.

to create a high quality environment for business, by enhancing the landscape setting of every small and medium-sized town in Central Scotland and reducing vacant and derelict land to an absolute minimum.

to deliver a threefold increase in the area of land used for community growing – allotments, orchards and gardens.

to deliver at least a 50% increase in woodland cover, in line with the Scottish Forestry Strategy target.

to plan and deliver an integrated habitat network at a landscape scale, with wildlife corridors joining up key sites and habitats, ensuring that every community has access to places where people can experience and enjoy nature and wildlife.

to deliver a strategic network of high-quality routes for active travel and recreation throughout Central Scotland

to ensure that the green network is used by everyone to improve health and well-being through physical activity and contact with nature, volunteering and learning outdoors.

to foster community pride and ownership in the CSGN and to use the green network as a community resource, providing opportunities for education, volunteering, training, skills development and employment in land-based and low-carbon industries.

to help mitigate climate change through land management practices which help to capture, store and retain carbon, such as woodland expansion and the protection of peatland, and through the promotion of active travel.

You can find out more on the CSGN website.

How the CEI is helping to deliver the central scotland green network

The Central Scotland Green Network

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