Tayside's 1st "Biodiversity Festival" Deemed A Great Success
Reptile Walk Glen Esk
May 1st saw the launch of the first "Tayside Biodiversity Festival", 10 days of celebrating wildlife and biodiversity in Angus, Dundee and Perthshire. In Angus, Forfar Loch Country Park, Monikie Country Park, the Angus Glens, Crombie Country Park, Montrose Basin Local Nature Reserve, Seaton Cliffs and The Burn Edzell all hosted a range of events which encouraged you to explore Angus's wealth of biodiversity.
Over 50 inspiring events led by experts in their field, ranging from photographic competitions, exhibitions and screenings of Eco films to species identification courses, guided walks, wildlife gardening sessions and practical workshops where you could build your own bird feeders and nest boxes, proved popular with locals and visitors alike.
Angus showcased it impressive range of biodiversity with a range of activities including a Guided Reptile Walk to Loch Lee in the Angus Glens, the opportunity to participate in the biggest spring bird survey ever with Make the Birds of Angus Count in the Angus Glens, a guided walk along Seaton Cliffs 400 million year old red sandstone cliffs and a one day introductory Bumblebee Identification Day in association with the Angus Ranger Service and Bumblebee Conservation Trust.
A highlight of the festival as part of 'Wildlife Photographic Weekend' was perhaps renound photographer David Boag's light-hearted talk on his wildlife photographic adventures in Scottish quarries, and his session on wildlife photography techniques afterwards. This event also saw the launch of the Tayside Biodiversity Partnership's ZOOM In2 photographic project. The project provides free recyclable cameras to participants and asks them to choose a local "greenspace" and photograph it from the same spot every month for a year. This time next year 20 sets of photographs from each local authority area will be selected and turned into time lapse films. For more information please visit www.taysidebiodiversity.co.uk.
Sea Cliff Walk Arbroath
Angus is rich in biodiversity and it is vital to our economy in ways that you may not be aware of: tourism relies on our beautiful landscape, insects pollinate our crops and fruit trees, and the land provides raw materials for our food, drink, clothing, buildings and roads. Biodiversity is also very important for our wellbeing as it encourages us outdoors and we are very lucky to a have a wealth of natural wonders on our doorstep to be enjoyed.