As you all know 2014 will be the second
year of Shoresearch Cornwall and the final year of the PANACHE project. I have
been working on a programme of (mainly) FREE training events, surveys and public
events that covers as much of Cornwall’s coast as possible yet focuses on areas
that will be included in the next tranche of MCZs. Please find attached the full
list (Please note that this is a Draft list – any changes will be announced via
email – some extra details will be added but at least you have the dates so you
can hopefully plan to come along to lots of them!!)
This winter I am holding 2 evening
training sessions at Allet (near Truro) at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust
headquarters. These training sessions will be on;
· Wednesday 29th
January and
· Wednesday the 12th
February. These sessions
will train you how to lead rockpooling and other events for your local Marine
Conservation group and will be an introduction to the Shoresearch method of
shore surveying, – this will be useful to VMCA marine volunteers,
eco-coasteering leaders, and to those who want to get involved in this vital
survey method. Please see attachment for more details on timings
etc
- Sunday 2nd February there will be a whole day of Rockpool training. This is a beginner’s level training day being held at Par in conjunction with Friends of Par beach who we hope will be leading Rockpool rambles on their beach next summer. This will be an introduction to rocky shore marine life with lots of practical advice on how to lead rockpooling events for the public that really engage and inspire people! In the morning I will be giving a presentation and going over methods and important information in the morning for approx one and a half hours and then we will go down on the shore at Spit par beach where there are fantastic tubeworm colonies and a wealth of marine life. Again this is open to new Shoresearch volunteers, members of local marine groups and for anyone who is keen to lead Rockpooling events and eco-coasteering.
- Saturday February 8th is the Third annual YOUR SHORE Conference – this year being held at The Eden Project. This is a brilliant day of updates from our fantastic marine groups from all around the coasts of Cornwall and Devon. It is a great chance to network and get new ideas for your marine conservation groups. In the afternoon we will have inspiring and engaging talks from Sue Sayer of Cornwall Seal Group and Ian McCarthy a world renowned wildlife cameraman and photographer who has worked for the BBC natural history unit on many fantastic projects, he lives in Fowey and has a real passion for Cornwall’s marine life so he will share his enthusiasm with us all! The Your Shore project is being funded by Panache and Shoresearch volunteers are welcome to come along and take part.
- Sunday 2nd March I am leading a full day of Rocky shore training at Newquay College, this will be an intermediate level course aimed at VMCA volunteers, Shoresearchers and eco-coasteering leaders. We will have talks and presentations at Cornwall College lab in the morning, a rockpooling session at South Fistral beach and a follow up lab session and debrief at the college. There will be a small cost for this course TBC.
For those who are keen to get up to Looe
and for Looe locals, Heather Buttivant has kindly offered to carry out
Shoresearch surveys at her survey/training days this winter – dates are included
on the attached list – please contact Heather for more details on where and when
to meet etc her email is h.buttivant@gmail.com
Through the summer there will be a total
of 9 PANCHE public marine events taking place. At most of these there will be a
public Rockpooling event running parallel with a Shoresearch survey being
carried out by our volunteers. We will be setting up a Shore Lab and will be
trying to really raise the profile of our local marine environment and our
Marine Protected areas. See attached list for more detail.
This summer I will also be visiting a
number of Fish festivals around the county to promote the work of the CWT marine
team and our local marine groups. We will also be raising the profile of our new
Cornwall Good Fish Guide project. It would be fantastic to have the support of
volunteers to help us man our stalls / engaging activities at these events! (I’m
sure the crab cracks a walnut trick will be being used!)
Also this year we will have four
Shoresearch survey days where we go to more inaccessible sites and hold
volunteer only surveys which will also double up as further training for our
team!
In September we will once again be
visiting each of Cornwall's VMCAs in turn carrying out a shore search survey and
fully making the most of the equinoxial spring tides which this year are superb!
It should be a fantastic year
Maybe see you at the very silly Marine
QUIZ night next Monday 16th December that Niki Clear and I are hosting at the Driftwood spars
7pm
Merry Christmas to you all
Matt
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