2023-4 Meetings

Meetings for 2023-4 are currently being planned. Further details will be added as they become available.

12 October 2023

Re-introducing water voles to the Lowther Valley
 
David Greaves (Eden Rivers Trust)
 
The Lowther Water Vole Project is funded by the Environment Agency’s Water Environment Improvement Fund-funded and in summer 2023 carried out the first phase of the reintroduction of water vole to the Lowther Valley, part of the Lake District National Park. Find out about the plight of the water vole in the UK and how Eden Rivers Trust are working with partners, volunteers and landowners to create and improve habitat and restore the species.

 

9 November 2023

Sustainable farming in the Lake District: A Wilderculture Approach

Sam Beaumont (Gowbarrow Hall Farm)

Sam will talk about our journey over the past 6 years from intensive sheep farming to organic, pasture for life beef, heather moorland, wood pasture and species rich grassland restoration.

 

14 December 2023

Protected areas and community-based conservation in the Brazilian Amazon

Joseph Hawes (University of Cumbria)

It is often a challenge to deliver both effective biodiversity conservation and improvements to the social well-being of local people. I will explore examples from the western Brazilian Amazon that showcase the roles of sustainable-use reserves and community-based conservation initiatives.

 

 

25 January 2023

Jacob’s Join supper plus the AGM.

Ambleside Parish Centre

  • Jacob’s Join supper (please bring finger food to share)
  • Report of activities and the accounts for 2023
  • Short presentation by Tim Boden on his citizen’s science project to measure phosphorous levels in Windermere over summer 2023
  • opportunity for members to present slides (maximum 10) of their best wildlife photos taken in 2023

8 February 2024

To record or not to record, that is the question. Exploring wildlife recording in Cumbria.

Rebecca Slack (Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre)

Recording wildlife is a simple and very rewarding activity in itself but can also contribute to understanding the bigger picture of what is happening in the natural world. It provides information needed to inform nature recovery, planning and development, biodiversity research and so much more. With a steadily growing number of apps and identification guides, wildlife recording is becoming much more accessible for everyone but can also be confusing: what observations should be recorded? What should be used to record them? Who should the records be sent to? This talk will look at wildlife recording, consider why it is useful and what it contributes, and consider some of the different approaches for recording, including a look at the two most popular apps – iRecord and iNaturalist. There will be an opportunity to find out about emerging initiatives for Cumbria and to feed into new ideas to improve the recording of species, habitats and sites.

14 March 2024

Bees, Meadows and Verges; Enjoying Meadows and Verges in Flower Out & About Near Ambleside

Julia Pigott (Bee Ed, Brigsteer Bee Reserve)

Julia will talk about bees and bee behaviour and how flowers compete for their attention and loyalty as pollinators.

Perfect bee habitat is rare but still to be found in our semi-natural flower rich grasslands; hay meadows, ancient pasture and roadside verges.  The link is the profusion of native wild flowers that our bees co-evolved with.   We might just think of bumblebees gently buzzing between flowers and sipping nectar, but competition amongst flowers is fierce as they seek to attract pollinators. It’s the survival of the fittest. Think of flowers as vendors competing furiously to attract Bees as purchasers. Julia will describe some of the battles that play out in our flower rich grasslands.

11 April 2024

The Big Windermere Survey and the Riverfly Partnership: the use of citizen science in freshwater conservation

The Big Windermere Survey and the Riverfly Partnership: the use of citizen science in freshwater conservation. Join Emma Kelly and Trine Bregstein from the Freshwater Biological Association for a talk about two citizen science schemes, their history, how volunteers are contributing, how the data is used and how you can get involved.

Trine Bregstein and Emma Kelly (Freshwater Biological Association) 

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