Tamar Valley Wetlands – supporting a wealth of wildlife, benefitting our environment and all that lives within - Episode 1

Find out more about Calstock Wetlands with Pete Thompson, and the wetland area at National Trust’s Cotehele from Lead Ranger George Holmes. Your hosts, Ginnette Sutherland and Charlotte Dancer, from the Tamar Valley National Landscape team, take a walk around Calstock and through the woods to Cotehele, to discover more about these amazing habitats and the wealth of wildlife they support, together with the vital role they play to benefit our wider environment and climate.

 

You’ll hear the sounds of Nature on the wetlands as we pause, listen and connect for a few moments, inspired by the nature connectedness work and research undertaken by University of Derby.

 

Learn more about three of our Tamar Valley Special Species – 17 animals and plants that were identified within the Tamar Valley National Landscape’s Nature Recovery Plan 2023-2030, as needing a helping hand to thrive. Valerie Darwall, Project Officer for Tamar Valley National Landscape, who is leading on this piece of work, talks about the beautiful avocet wading bird, one of which has been spotted this season at Calstock Wetlands; Palaemon longirostris, known locally as the ‘Calstock’ prawn; and triangular club-rush, with only one known remaining UK population on the muddy banks of a tidal stretch of the Tamar Estuary in Tamar-Tavy Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and was considered at risk of extinction in the UK.

 

Your hosts

• Ginnette Sutherland, Community Engagement Officer (intern), Tamar Valley National Landscape/Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme (National Lottery Heritage Fund supported)
• Charlotte Dancer, Information & Communications Officer, Tamar Valley National Landscape

Our guests

• Pete Thompson, member of Tamar Community Trust
• George Holmes, Lead Ranger, National Trust Cotehele
• Valerie Darwall, Project Officer, Tamar Valley National Landscape

 

With thanks

A big thank you to Jim Baldwin and Ross Sinclair from Fotonow for their technical support, advice and patience during the filming and editing stages, and for the images.

 

Links

Find out more…

National Trust Cotehele, wetland creation - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/cotehele/creating-new-wetlands-at-cotehele

Tamar Community Trust - https://www.tamarvalley-nl.org.uk/discover-explore/places-of-interest/calstock-wetlands/

Tamar Valley National Landscape - https://www.tamarvalley-nl.org.uk/

Tamara Landscape Partnership scheme - https://tamaralandscapepartnership.org.uk/

Tamar Valley National Landscape’s Nature Recovery Plan 2023-2030 - https://www.tamarvalley-nl.org.uk/our-work/projects/nature-recovery-plan/

University of Derby

• Natural Connectedness research - https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/themes/zero-carbon/zero-carbon-nbs-research-centre/nature-connectedness-research-group/
• Nature Connected Communities Handbook Growing community nature connectedness: A new handbook for growing human-nature community relationships. | Finding Nature.

 

Production

This podcast has been brought to you from Tamar Valley National Landscape, one of 46 National Landscapes throughout the UK that work in partnership to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of these protected landscapes. Designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1995, the Tamar Valley’s special qualities are;

• A rare valley and water landscape
• A landscape of high visual quality
• A unique wildlife resource
• A remarkable heritage
• A landscape of artistic and public appeal

The podcast has been made possible thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Tamara Landscape Partnership scheme, a project of Tamar Valley National Landscape, that aims to create a brighter future for the Tamar Valley and its communities, by creating opportunities and positive change through a programmes of 10 exciting projects.

 

Contact us

Email: enquiries@tamarvalley.org.uk

Social media: @tamarvalleynl – find us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

 

More episodes

Look out for our next podcast that will be released at the end of February 2025.