Tame Valley Essay

Tame Valley Essay Tame Valley Essay OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY The Tame Valley has a wide variety of habitats that host a rich diversity of wildlife and rare species. This regionally important river corridor is also a vital north-south migration route, providing essential resting and feeding places for hundreds of migrating birds. The Tame Valley is recognised as a key place for large area conservation and partnership working, and part of a ‘Living Landscape’. The Partnership is led by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and supported by 18 organisations, which includes government agencies, local councils, non-governmental organisations and charities. The Tame Valley Wetlands Partnership was awarded development funding of 1.7million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to progress the Tame Valley Wetlands Landscape Partnership Scheme (TVWLPS) – a large, landscape-scale scheme with local people, the River Tame and the area’s wealth of heritage at its heart. The scheme began in the second half of 2014 and it will run for four years. The scheme will officially launch with a new fresh brand in March 2015. To create a wetland landscape, rich in wildlife and accessible to all, this will be achieved by taking a landscape-scale approach to restoring, conserving and reconnecting the physical and cultural landscape of the Tame Valley. By re-engaging local communities with the landscape and its rich heritage, a sense of ownership, understanding and pride will be nurtured to ensure a lasting legacy of restoration and conservation. To achieve this vision, four aims have been identified, which reflect the four themes of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnership funding stream, as well as the overarching aims of the Partnership. The four principal aims are to: 1. Conserve, enhance and restore built and natural heritage features in order to improve the fragmented and degraded landscape of the Tame Valley. Emphasis will be given to linear features such as the River Tame and its floodplain, the canal corridor and historic hedgerows. 2. Reconnect the local community with the Tame Valley landscape and its heritage by engaging and involving people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities with their local green spaces, sites of heritage interest and the conservation and restoration of these places. Emphasis will be given to engaging hard-to-reach groups, community-led initiatives and delivering events and activities. 3. Improve access and learning for local people – both physical access on and between sites and intellectual access on and off site through a range of resources. This includes development of the ‘Tame Way’, themed trails, and a Gateway to the Tame Valley interpretation centre and website. 4. Provide training opportunities for local people by offering taster sessions, short courses, award schemes and certificates in a range of heritage and conservation topics, in order to increase the skill and knowledge levels within the local population and provide a lasting legacy. Currently, the organization has 35 different projects categorised under four different programmes. All the projects will run in the next 4 years, year 1 having started in 2014-2015. Programme A – Creating and restoring built and natural heritage A2: Turret Restoration. Project Aim is to improve the condition and appearance of this structure, to ensure that it remains in a good condition and stays visually and structurally sound into the future. It will be running in Year 3, but the duration has not been mentioned yet. Programme B – Increasing community participation B1: Heritage Events. Project Aim is to deliver an engaging programme of events (the delivery of one major heritage event a year - in years 2,3 and 4), focussing on natural heritage and traditional heritage skills. It will run from Year 2 to 5 (between 2015 and 2018). B3: Environmental Volunteering. Project Aim is to engage local volunteers in the management and restoration of sites of natural heritage interest within the TVWLPS area. Year 1 to