Donmouth triumphs in BBC Springwatch contest
30/04/08
A wildflower plug planting project at Aberdeen’s Donmouth is being backed by the BBC’s Springwatch Action Team (SWAT).
The team will be joining City Council countryside rangers and volunteers to extend the work undertaken near the bird hide at the Donmouth nature reserve a few years ago.
Judges chose the Donmouth project after rangers Rob Rowe and Ian Talboys went head to head in a bid to win backing for their projects. Their pitches were broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.
Ian had hoped to persuade the panel to back his project to redevelop a wildlife garden at Loirston Primary School in Cove, but was pipped at the post.
A delighted Rob said: “I’m pleasantly surprised. It was a really fair competition and it’s a great honour to have been involved with this. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and working with the volunteers on the day and bringing this project to fruition.
“Each and every green space that we have a responsibility for is special and people should go to their local green space and see what’s special there. We’ve highlighted Donmouth, but there are other local nature reserves and green spaces in Aberdeen, which are really, really special in their own way.”
He added: “The challenge is for people to go there and let us know what’s special about those spaces, and by not dumping or setting fires there. Let’s keep them really special.”
The SWAT team will be working at the Donmouth on the weekend of June 8 and 9. The project is to receive £500 of funding from the programme, which will also receive TV and radio coverage.
Four areas went through the selection process – Aberdeen, Stirling, Fife, and Glasgow, with one project from each area selected to be featured on Springwatch.
The BBC will promote the projects and work to attract volunteers to take part in the SWAT team project over the weekend of June 8 and 9.
Ian said he was not too disappointed that the Loirston project had lost. “We knew only one of us was going to get it,” he said.
He added that he hoped the wildlife garden could be undertaken in the future if alternative funding could be found.
Rob said the countryside rangers were keen to receive information about wildlife seen at the city’s green spaces so it can be recorded by the North-east Biological Records Centre's database.
Details of the species and locations where they are spotted at can be sent via email to lochinch@aberdeencity.gov.uk
If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.
