National RSPB award for Ury Riverside Park
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Inverurie's Ury Riverside Park has been awarded the RSPB Nature of Scotland 2022 Community Initiative Award.
Chairman Martin Auld said: "These are Scotland's most prestigious nature conservation awards, so this is a great honour and recognition of all we have achieved over the last seven years in partnership with a range of stakeholders and most importantly, the local community.
"Thanks to all the Trustees, members, Aberdeenshire Council and everyone else who supports Ury Riverside Park."
Rod Adams group secretary said “It is a wonderful accolade to win the Community Initiative category with our Ury Riverside Park.
"This is a true community initiative.
"Without the commitment and skills of all the SCIO committee and volunteers giving their time, and funding partners supporting the projects, we would not have this great facility for local people and all the wildlife that is moving in as the habitats develop.”
The awards were presented by lolo Williams of BBC Springwatch fame and broadcaster and radio Host Arlene Stuart.
Under the banner of 'For people and wildlife together' Ury Riverside Park is a 60ha community park for people and wildlife to enjoy together.
The Park is being developed by the community for the community from a former barley field to create somewhere special for wildlife and people.
As a local great place to walk, jog and even volunteer to help create habitats or watch wildlife it has become a much used area and also acts as a floodplain area for the river Ury, as witnessed at the weekend after the torrential rain.
Highly Commended in the same section was Saving Our Swifts! by Tayside Swifts a volunteer group creating “Dots on the Map” surveys, installing nest boxes and playing swift calls.
The Business for Nature Award also saw a win for a north-east linked project Highlands Rewilding Limited which enables ‘nature recovery and community prosperity through rewilding’.
The company aims to protect and enhance nature, simultaneously boosting biodiversity, sequestering carbon, creating green jobs, and generating profit-for-purpose through an innovative financing model created by CEO Jeremy Legg and operates from a site in Aberdeenshire near Huntly and in the Highlands.
Runners up were the The Ethical Dairy - Agroecological Dairy Farming.
Fifteen years ago David and Wilma Finlay began a transformation of their farm’s production to harness natural systems. Animal welfare was improved through cow-with-calf dairy, soil health and biodiversity through agroecological management, and low-energy use food production was introduced.
In the other categories -
Citizen Science Award - Winner: UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS)
The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme has been tracking the fortunes of butterfly populations across the UK for over four decades. Volunteer citizen scientists are at the heart of this effort, counting the butterflies each week of the summer at almost 150 locations in Scotland.
Coast and Waters Award - Winner: Seawilding - Community-led marine habitat restoration.
Seawilding, at Loch Craignish, Argyll, is the UK’s first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration initiative. Seawilding aims to collaboratively restore vital biodiversity and create green local jobs. This inspirational community-based organisation is pioneering low-cost, best-practice marine habitat restoration methodologies and empowering other coastal communities to do the same.
Forest and Woodland Award - Winner: Bressay Community Woodland Project.
A unique woodland project on the island of Bressay in Shetland, where native woodlands were a thing of the past, but are now a reality for the future. Local people are planting 3000 native trees, recreating historic woodland habitat and making a special place for biodiversity and people.
Health and Wellbeing Award - Winner: Thrive - positive wellbeing in young people through nature.
Thrive uses positive activities in nature to help young people improve their mental wellbeing.
Innovation Award - Winner: Generation restoration - supporting the scaling-up of seagrass restoration
Seagrass meadows play a significant global role in supporting food security, mitigating climate change and supporting biodiversity. This highly collaborative project uses genetic data, seed storage and germination trials for eelgrass (Zostera marina) to identify the best seed sources and storage methods for scaling-up the restoration of Scotland’s seagrass meadows.
Nature and Climate Action Award - Winner: Southern Uplands Partnership
Started by local people keen to keep the countryside and communities of southern Scotland alive, the charity now delivers a host of projects: golden eagle translocation; black grouse recovery; energy efficient supply chains; Recharge in Nature; SW Scotland Environmental Information Centre; Wild Land Area project; net zero carbon emissions pilot scheme.
RSPB Species Champion Award - David Anderson
For over 40 years Dave Anderson has worked at the forefront of birds of prey conservation in Scotland, pioneering new methods to study these much-loved species. His outstanding field skills, determination and sheer force of will have cemented him as one of Scotland’s best birds of prey field workers.
Youth and Education Award - Winner: Scottish Green Pathways - Froglife
Froglife’s Scottish Green Pathways scheme empowers vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to take part in positive activities linked to wildlife and conservation in their local community. The project helps young people enjoy and learn about the natural world alongside gaining new practical skills.
