In May 2023 the first meet up of the North Devon Coast National Landscape Environment Group took place with the ambition to help those interested in the environment gain new skills and knowledge whilst also connecting to other like-minded young people in North Devon.
The group was put together as part of a National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project ‘Finding Nature’s Footprints’ and organised by Lowenna Arnold the project assistant.
The group has taken part in a range of activities from hearing how the National Trust have been managing their land for biodiversity, to completing a Rapid Rainforest assessment, marine mammal surveying, night rock-pooling, butterfly surveying and bat detecting.
In July some of the group had the opportunity to take part in a 2-day expedition along the Hartland peninsula walking from Marsland on the Devon/ Cornwall border to the National Trust site at Brownsham. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible, but the group supported each other and maintained a positive attitude, resulting in a great time for everyone. The group met up with National Trust ranger Greg from Brownsham, who showed them the wildflower fields and kit used to collect seeds for future planting. They had an up-close encounter with a hunting kestrel who successfully caught a vole, saw a peregrine falcon, seals and many insects and plants along the way.
Evie Giblett is now part of the Finding Nature’s Footprints team and is keen to recruit new members to the group. She said, “the group is a great opportunity to get enthusiastic people together to gain experience in everything nature-related here in North Devon. We are currently planning more activities including night walks, extreme beach cleans, practical conservation work and our 2024 expedition! Members are generally between 15 – 25 years old and are based all over North Devon. All activities are free and offer the chance to gain knowledge, skills and practical experience in the field”.
“We are starting the 2024 Environment Group with a variety of upcoming activities to get involved in, including a woodland night walk at Lee Bay, night rock pooling at Westward Ho! and a pellet potluck in the coming months. It would be fantastic to see as many faces as possible join and explore the outdoors with us!”.
Sophie, a member of the group in the Summer of 2023 said, “I wanted to join the group because I have been looking for a community project to get stuck into, I love spending time outdoors and nature journaling, and I wanted to meet like-minded individuals of a similar age, as well as learn about the natural world and conservation from experts who are passionate about what they do. I am really interested in how well the group brings together a lot of different ages and people with different skillsets and abilities. I particularly like how friendly and welcoming everyone involved is, and how enthusiastic everyone seems. I also enjoy the fact that we are considering more than one aspect of conservation, rather than focusing on one area or method”.
If you are aged 15-25 years and are interested in joining this group, or know of someone who would be, please email evie.giblett@devon.gov.uk. More information on the Finding Nature’s Footprints Project can be found on our website https://www.northdevoncoast-nl.org.uk/findingnaturesfootprints/environment-group
