Groups and partnerships
Small tortoiseshell butterfly © Amy Lewis
Working together for wildlife
Cumbria Wildlife Trust works in partnership with other organisations to achieve the best results for wildlife. We also support special interest groups, which are made up of volunteers and experts in a particular field.
The Cumbria Mammal group Facebook page is already populated with a number of posts, photographs and videos and new members are always welcome.
Follow Cumbria Mammal group on Facebook
As well as being a useful means of sharing observations from around Cumbria the Cumbria Mammal group is planning to run some specialist field meetings with a view to producing the mammal experts of tomorrow.
Cumbria is fortunate in possessing some real experts and if these individuals cast their minds back, they will recall that they were initially shown the ropes by someone willing to share their skills.
The demise of the old Mammals Group and the regional Badger Groups has created a vacuum in this educational area that this new Group intends to fill.
Why did the Cumbria Local Nature Partnership come about?
Cumbria’s brand is defined by our location and unique environment; it has provided the resources for innovation that have made Cumbria globally renowned.
However, we continue to witness the decline of nature in Cumbria as climate change, development pressure and modern day life impact on our surroundings that have provided us with vital natural resources.
Once common species have become rare, and treasured landscapes are changing. We need our natural systems to provide for us.
We rely on nature to supply essentials such as food, clean air and water and to underpin the quality of our lives by supporting health, recreation and fulfilment.
Nature also provides our economic base. Environmental growth will change our thinking and practice; it will ensure that nature can sustain and support our communities and businesses in the future.
Which organisations are involved in the Cumbria Local Nature Partnership?
Cumbria Local Nature Partnership consists of a wide range of organisations including:
- statutory agencies
- local authorities
- representatives of farming and landowning interests
- research and educational institutions
- businesses, voluntary organisations and community groups
Read more
In late 2014 the Cumbria Local Nature Partnership (CLNP) Board was established with Lord Inglewood as its Chair (a full list of CLNP Board members is contained within the CLNP Strategy - which you can download below).
Since then we have been seeking to work strategically with leaders from all sectors and foster a step change in delivery for the environment embedding its value in local decisions for the benefit of nature, people and the economy.
The CLNP Board has also been working to develop the CLNP Strategy. This strategy sets out what the CLNP wants for the environment in Cumbria.
The CLNP's vision for the environment of Cumbria is:
“Cumbria is a place where consideration for the environment informs every decision making process and where the environment is managed to provide a wide range of benefits for nature, people and the economy. In Cumbria nature’s role within the landscape is understood and valued by all”.
It also outlines the approach required and lists the themes on which CLNP and others need to work in order to realise this vision.
The four key themes are:
1. Putting people at the heart of environmental policy;
2. Managing environmental impacts and growing the economy;
3. Adopting an integrated landscape approach to conservation on both land and at sea;
4. Improving knowledge and understanding of the environment
The CLNP will encourage delivery and where necessary instigate a series of priority actions under these four themes using the best available evidence and in consultation with its stakeholders and others (e.g. Morecambe Bay and Northern Upland Chain LNPs).
More information?
If you would like to find out more about the CLNP and its work please contact Graham Jackson-Pitt (Senior Living Landscape Officer) who currently acts as the secretariat for the Partnership using the details below.
Alternatively feel free to visit him in our Wider Countryside department at Plumgarths head office.
Contact: Graham Jackson-Pitt, Senior Living Landscape Officer, Cumbria Wildlife Trust
Telephone: 01539816300
Email Graham Jackson-Pitt
Cumbria local nature partnership environment strategy PDF
Cumbria local nature partnership summary document PDF
What is the Cumbria Peat Partnership about?
It brings stakeholders together to share knowledge, develop best practice and actively support the restoration, stewardship and the long-term future of the wide range of valuable peat habitats in Cumbria.
The Cumbria Peat Partnership will actively support the restoration and better stewardship of peat land habitats with the aim of delivering:
- Flood Risk Management
- Biodiversity, Water Resources
- Water Quality
- Carbon Storage
- Water Framework Directive benefits
What are the key objectives of the Cumbria Peat Partnership?
The formation of the Cumbria Peat Partnership (CPP) in spring 2012. Its key objectives are that by 2020 we will:
- Seek to achieve favourable management conditions of 2020ha of Peat land habitat in Cumbria.
- Improve connectivity of Peat land habitats for the benefit of flagship species in Cumbria.
What work has been carried out so far?
Surveys are currently being carried out of potential restoration sites, following a detailed mapping exercise of the available peat habitat in the Lake District National Park and areas of high restoration potential.
This will help us to identify areas of erosion and help us to define where best to focus our resources.
Who is a member of the Cumbria Peat Partnership?
Representatives from the following organisations will form the membership of the partnership:
- Cumbria Wildlife Trust (CWT)
- Environment agency (EA)
- Natural England (NE)
- The Forestry Commission (FC)
- The National Trust (NT)
- United Utilities (UU)
- Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA)
- Cumbria Farmers Network
- National Farmers Union (NFU)
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
- Nurture Lakeland
- Cumbria Woodlands
- Friends of the Lake District
- Moorland Association
More information?
If you would like to find out more about the Cumbria Peat Partnership and its
work please contact Neil Harnott (Senior Conservation Officer) at Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Telephone: 01539 816300
Email Neil Harnott
Cumbria Peat Partnership (CPP) terms of reference PDF
Our enduring partnership with Vine House Farm has inspired and enabled people to look after the wildlife in their garden for over ten years.
Feeding Vine House Farm bird seed, home grown on their wildlife friendly farm in Lincolnshire has enabled tens of thousands of people to experience the joy of wildlife in their gardens.
Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites (RIGS), designated by locally developed criteria, are currently the most important places for geology and geomorphology outside statutorily protected land such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The designation of RIGS is one way of recognising and protecting important Earth science and landscape features for future generations to enjoy.
The concept of RIGS was first initiated by the Nature Conservancy Councils (NCC) publication Earth Science Conservation in Great Britain – A Strategy (1990).
RIGS sites started life as SSSIs denotified after the Geological Conservation Review (1977-1990). The statutory agencies wished to secure their conservation in another form.
RIGS sites are those which, whilst not benefiting from national statutory protection, are nevertheless regionally or locally representative sites where '.... consideration of their importance becomes integral to the planning process' according to the Earth Science Conservation Strategy (ESCS).
Further information about local geology and RIGS in Cumbria can be obtained from Cumbria GeoConservation Group