€¦ · web viewfrom this 41 articles were published in local newspapers and magazines including...

Cornwall Wildlife Trust HG-08-16348 Your Shore Project, Final Report of 27

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Your Shore ProjectFinal Project Report

ContentsPage2 Contents3 Introduction4 Your Shore Project Figures Summary

5 Section 1: Project Summary

6 Achievements in relation to each aim (Approved purpose) of the Project;

6 Aim 1: Provide opportunities for community groups and individuals to visit their local marine environment.

7 Aim 2: Enable community groups and individuals to learn about their local marine environment.

9 Aim 3: Form a sustainable community organisation to further the conservation of the marine environment of each VMCA in the long term.

9 Helford10 Looe 11 St Agnes12 Polzeath13 Fowey

14 Section 2: Project Outcomes

14 2.a What difference will your project make to your Heritage?16 2.b What difference will your project make for people? 17 2.c How many people will receive training through your project?17 2.dHow many volunteers do you expect will work on your project from start to finish?17 2.e How will you maintain the benefits of your project in the long term?18 2.f How will your Project affect the environment?

18 Section 3: Media summary

19 Copies of Press Coverage:

22 Section 4: Conclusion


Introduction

The Heritage Lottery Fund and South West Water funded YOUR SHORE project is a 3 year project delivered by Cornwall Wildlife Trust. The agreed aims of the project were to:

1. Provide opportunities for community groups and individuals to visit their local marine environment.

2. Enable community groups and individuals to learn about their local marine environment.

3. Form a sustainable community organisation to further the conservation of the marine environment of each Voluntary Marine Conservation Area (VMCA) in the long term.

This report summarises the outputs of the project.


Cornwall Wildlife TrustYour ShoreFinal Project Report March 2010 – Feb 2013

HLF Ref: HG-08-16348 (working name: Discovering the wonders of Cornwall’s Marine Heritage)March 2010 – Feb 2013

Your Shore Project Figures Summary

Number of events

Number of Adults

Number of Children

TotalPu

blic

ev

ents

Public events

183 5623 3688 9311

Community Events

72 2126 307 2433

Interest Talks

4 145 6 151

Volu

nte

er

acti

viti

es

Volunteer Events

137 2097 52 2756

Volunteer training

37 607 0 607

School events

62 497 1674 2171

Grand Total

495 11095 5727 16822


Section 1: Project SummaryThe Your Shore Project was delivered by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Team. It was managed by Victoria Whitehouse and Ruth Williams, and a full time Your Shore Project Officer was recruited to run the project. The Your Shore Project Officers were Abby Crosby (between March 2010 and April 2012) and Matt Slater (between May 2012 and March 2013).

There was a real need to work with communities within Cornwall to encourage the appreciation of our Marine Heritage and to engage people by providing opportunities to get involved in Marine Conservation work. Cornwall’s five Voluntary Marine Conservation areas in Looe, Fowey, Helford, Polzeath and St Agnes have an incredible value in terms of unique habitats and biodiversity. They are home to many Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species and habitats and they need to be protected better. By setting up a grass roots community-led volunteer group at each VMCA, a ground swell of public support has been generated which has led to an increased level of monitoring and understanding as well as a wider degree of participation from all levels of the community at each VMCA.

This Your Shore project has been hugely successful….

In total, 16,822 people have been reached by the Your Shore Project in its 3 years through a total of 495 public, volunteer and school events:

9,311 (5623 adults and 3688 children) people attending 183 public events. 2,433 (2126 adults and 302children) attending community events. 151 (145 adults and 6 children) people attended interest talks. 2,756 (2704 adults and 52 children) people attended volunteer events and

volunteer training. 2,171 (497 adults and 1674 children) attended school events.

The quality of the experiences and the positive publicity created by the Your Shore project have meant that a huge amount of public awareness has been raised at each VMCA and across Cornwall. Each VMCA now has a committed core team of volunteers who are capable of leading public events, carrying out monitoring of the environment, leading educational visits to the shore and continuing the excellent


work of the Your Shore Project. This project has started a ground swell of public support for marine conservation that, prior to the project, was not present in Cornish coastal communities. People have become more connected to their local marine heritage and want to learn more about it and protect it better. A total of 409 people are now registered as active VMCA volunteers.


Achievements in relation to each aim (Approved purpose) of the Project

Aim 1: To provide opportunities for community groups and individuals to visit their local marine environment.

This project has succeeded in this aim; a total of 16,822 people have visited their local marine environment as a result of public events, school visits and volunteer activities on the shore within Cornwall’s five VMCAs.

In order to engage with local residents and visitors to Cornwall, a busy schedule of public events was arranged at each of the five VMCAs. A wide range of people were targeted and a suite of different style events were delivered. These ranged from evening talks through the winter months on subjects as diverse as the history of Smuggling in Cornwall to the secret lives of Cornish Seals. Outdoors public events took place throughout the year including; rockpool rambles with enthusiastic experts, boat trips, snorkelling excursions, beach art competitions, beach cleaning, bird watching, seal watching, dolphin whale and basking shark spotting, crabbing and Scuba diving.

As can be seen in more detail in the Evaluation Report, a total of 259 events (183 public events, 72 community events and 4 interest talks) were held during the Your Shore project. The numbers of events increased each year; and the extensive training provided to the volunteers increased their confidence and skills and resulted in volunteers leading events themselves. The effectiveness of the public events in engaging and changing perceptions was monitored throughout the project, and many of the volunteers reported that the project has changed their lives and given them a real focus and passion. The Your Shore Project officer made sure that all avenues of engaging with local community groups were explored. In the last two years, this role has increasingly been taken on by the committees of the groups at each VMCA, as was envisaged in the project plan.


Aim 2: Enable community groups and individuals to learn about their local marine environment.At each VMCA teams of volunteers from the local community have been trained and developed through a structured volunteer training programme, coordinated by the Your Shore Project officer. Training was provided on many subjects by the Your Shore officer and with the help of the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS) and experts from all over the country were brought in to lead training events. Each year a group of key volunteers were provided first class training on species found on rocky shores by marine biologists from the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth.

To harness the positive energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers, training was provided in public event leadership and organisation. Additionally volunteers were provided specialist training to carry out surveys and monitoring of the marine environment such as: Seasearch dive surveys, bird surveys, shore surveys and surveys of seals, cetaceans and basking sharks, seaweed identification, rocky shore species identification, fish ecology, marine life rescue, sponge ecology and strandline training. Through the Your Shore project a total of 609 volunteers were trained at 37 training events. These figures only take into consideration formal training events – in fact, many more volunteers received informal training whilst attending surveys and public events. Public talks and visits to the shore have educated thousands of local people from many different community groups.

The scale of the commitment of the local volunteers is incredible, a total of 1,818.39 days of volunteer time have been given to the project, equating to a total of 512.5 skilled days and 1306 unskilled volunteer days.


Local primary schools were involved in the Your Shore project as engaging with children has many benefits. Not only does it instil a life-long respect and interest in the ocean, but it is also a great way of indirectly getting information to difficult-to-reach families and adults within the local community who may not attend public events. All of the primary schools within a five mile radius of each VMCA were provided free Seashore safari experiences delivered by the Your Shore Officers and by trained marine education volunteers recruited by the Your Shore team.

Engaging, fun, and educational activities that linked in to the national curriculum were provided. These included: scavenger hunts, beach art, rockpooling, beach theatre, bird watching, beach cleaning and litter surveying. 62 groups of school children were taken to the shore during the 3 years. This comprised a total of 1,674 children and 497 adults (teachers, teaching assistants and parents) that were educated through the project. Many of the school teachers who brought their classes to the shore became enthusiastic volunteers for their local VMCAs and will continue to be involved after the Your Shore project finishes. In the final year of the project, teachers were provided training by the Your Shore officer and each school was provided with a free seashore safari resource pack, risk assessments and equipment to give them knowledge and confidence to take school groups to the shore in future.


Aim 3: Form a sustainable community organisation to further the conservation of the marine environment of each VMCA in the long term.Each of Cornwall’s 5 VMCAs now have sustainable community organisations, set up and supported by the Your Shore project. The groups have benefited considerably from the support of the Your Shore project and after the conclusion of the project they will continue to be supported through events like the Annual VMCA conference and through continued, but less intensive support from the marine team of the Trust. Each VMCA group is slightly different but all will continue to offer similar activities to continue to engage and educate the public about marine conservation in their local ‘patch’.

HelfordHelford Voluntary Marine Conservation group is the longest established VMCA in Cornwall. The members committee of the group had been organizing an annual programme of public events prior to the start of the Your Shore project. However the group had been doing little engagement with local schools and there were no volunteer activities being organised. The Your Shore officer established a volunteer group which rapidly grew, and it now comprises 127 volunteers. This group has organised regular bird surveys of the VMCA, habitats within the VMCA have been mapped with the help of the volunteers including seasearch divers led by CWT who surveyed eel grass in the estuary. Volunteers carried out a detailed intertidal survey (the classic Norman Holme survey), continuing to add to a data set which was started in 1986. Volunteers also helped with juvenile bass surveys that have been carried out in the Fal and Helford for the last 15 years by a local expert.

The members committee of Helford VMCA want to see the momentum generated by the Your Shore project continuing in the coming years. A (voluntary) volunteer coordinator has been appointed to continue to organise regular volunteer meetings and to oversee the work of the volunteers and delivery of educational work.

The VMCA engages with the local community through the work of the Helford VMCA Advisory group. This is a group which meets quarterly and includes representatives from the fishing industry, local businesses and organisations involved in the conservation of the area. After the Your Shore Project has finished, Cornwall Wildlife Trust will continue to be part of this advisory group.

Website: www.helfordmarineconservation.co.uk


http://www.helfordmarineconservation.co.uk/

Looe Prior to the Your Shore Project, the Looe VMCA benefited from a one year HLF funded project ”Discovering the wonders of Looe’s Marine Heritage”. That project set up a volunteer group and a VMCA Advisory group at Looe VMCA. The advisory group continued to be developed through the Your Shore project. The Advisory group has representatives from the Harbour commissioners, Fishermans association, yacht club, small boats association, local businesses, tourism information centre, environment agency, Natural England, Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority and other organisations.

The volunteer group also continued to expand throughout the Your Shore project and the group now has 85 registered volunteers and a committee was established to steer the group. In October 2012 the committee elected to become a local specialist group of Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

In September 2012 the group was successful in their application for funding from East Cornwall Local Action Group. £9000 funding was received which will enable the volunteers to kit themselves out with the equipment needed to run public events including a gazebo, flags, first aid kits, first aid training, microscopes and an underwater camera. The funding has also been used to set up a fantastic website and for the production of leaflets, a walking trail leaflet and a printed children’s activity book. Two part-time paid members of staff have been taken on for a year using these funds. The future looks bright for this VMCA.

Website: http://looemarineconservation.org/


http://looemarineconservation.org/

xxx


St AgnesSt Agnes VMCA was no longer active at the start of the Your Shore Project, and offered no opportunities for local people to relate to their marine heritage. The Your Shore officer worked to bring together people from the community with an interest in the VMCA, and successfully established a marine conservation group with an active team of volunteers who steadily became more skilled and able to lead events and now self-manage the group. There are now 88 volunteers on the list. The group has set up a constitution and appointed a committee. For the first time the group has started charging for membership (£5 per year). The group has planned its events schedule for 2013 and is well on the way to becoming a local specialist group of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. They have engaged the local community by carefully selecting public event talks that attracted a wide audience. The Chairman is actively involved in the St Agnes Local Information Point scheme which has replaced the tourist information centre, and has close links with the St Agnes Museum. Regular updates on the work of St Agnes Marine Conservation group feature in the local monthly village newsletter – the St Agnes Bolster. The local primary schools are also heavily involved in the group with several local teachers having been trained to lead rockpool rambles.

Funding has been granted to the group by GE money to set up a new volunteer initiative for this summer called the ‘St Agnes Seashore Rangers Project’. It will enable a team of volunteers to man an information station at Trevaunance cove during the busy beach days throughout the summer months. These volunteers will promote the special marine heritage of the area, give out information and further raise public awareness of the importance of St Agnes Voluntary Marine Conservation Area.

Website: www.st-agnesvmca.org.uk


http://www.st-agnesvmca.org.uk/

Polzeath Prior to the start of the Your Shore project, Polzeath VMCA was a semi-active organisation that focused its efforts on guiding and managing the tourist audience rather than attracting visitors or recruiting local members. The Your Shore officer built great links with local community groups including local schools, Polzeath residents association (PARA) and the Polzeath Voice, and succeeded in drawing together a dedicated team of volunteers. At the end of the Your Shore project there are a total of 65 volunteers signed up. In 2012 the group decided to become an independent not-for-profit organisation called ‘Polzeath Marine Conservation Group’. Partners in the group are Cornwall Wildlife Trust, National Trust and Cornwall Council. The group aims to continue with the great work started through the Your Shore project in raising public awareness and monitoring the VMCA.

The VMCA benefits greatly from having a visitor centre – the small but excellent Polzeath Marine Centre. This was originally set up by Cornwall Council. Due to budget cuts, the council has handed responsibility for the centre over to the newly formed Polzeath Marine Conservation Group. The costs of running the centre mean that fundraising has been a priority for this group. It will cost approximately £1000 to run the centre per year – so far the group has raised £1600 through a combination of fundraising events and donations from local businesses.

The Polzeath MCG, and their partners National Trust, will continue with the highly successful Polzeath volunteer marine warden scheme. Each year throughout the Your Shore project, a part-time volunteer was recruited to help the volunteers to manage the marine centre, the events schedule and to liaise with community groups and schools. The ranger carried out 2 days per week volunteering for the NT and 3 days per week volunteering for the VMCA. In return they got free accommodation at the NT Pentireglaze farm. This has worked extremely well for the last 3 years and will continue beyond the end of the Your Shore project and the volunteer for 2013 has been appointed.

A busy schedule of events has been planned for 2013 and a leaflet has been printed for the coming season (costs were covered by Valley Caravan Park). Lots of exiting things are planned by this group!

Website: www.polzeathmarineconservation.com


http://www.polzeathmarineconservation.com/

Fowey Fowey VMCA is the most recent of Cornwall’s VMCAs and was set up in 2003 by Fowey Harbour Commissioners. Lack of resources and staff capacity at the Harbour Commissioners meant that very little was happening at the start of the Your Shore project. A membership organisation called the Friends of the Fowey estuary had been established but this group did not engage much of the local community, offered events that suited older people and didn’t run practical activities that would encourage younger adults, families and children to participate or provide opportunity for volunteers to get involved with active conservation work.

Through the support of the Your Shore project a volunteer group was established and the number of practical events through the year was increased. Many volunteers have been trained to lead public events and carry out surveys. The group is now organizing bird surveys of the estuary, and detailed surveys of the eel grass beds of the VMCA have been carried out with the help of the Your Shore project officer and the volunteers. A team of rockpool ramble leaders has been established and the group intends to survey the shore and muddy habitats within the VMCA in detail over the next years.

In 2012 the volunteer group merged with the Friends of the Fowey estuary and this merger has reinvigorated the group. With three of the committed volunteers now on the committee of the Friends, they are in a much better place to continue with the public engagement work the Your Shore project started. The Fowey estuary partnership group provide a steering role for the development of the work of the Friends of the Fowey estuary. The chairman of the Friends sits on this committee, as do the Trust, the Harbour commissioners, representatives from stakeholders and business and other organizations such as the National Trust and the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries Committee.

Website: www.friendsofthefowey.org.uk


http://www.friendsofthefowey.org.uk/

Section 2: Project Outcomes

2a: What difference will your project make to your Heritage?The Your Shore project has undoubtedly succeeded in inspiring people to support the conservation of our marine environment. This has been achieved through increasing understanding of and access to the marine environment.

Local responsibility for the natural environment has been nurtured and developed within communities and visitors.

Training has enabled volunteers to get involved with monitoring and surveying that has greatly added to the amount of data on the species and habitats within the VMCAs. This data has been crucial for marine conservation as it has inputted to the process of establishing Marine Conservation Zones. Many of the volunteers have become wildlife recorders. The list of survey work carried out during the project by volunteers is impressive:

Seagrass beds have been mapped in all 3 of the south coast VMCAs using remote operated vehicles with underwater video cameras, and utilizing trained sea search diving volunteers. This work has proven the presence of eel grass beds that were previously undiscovered and unsurveyed. Seagrass mapping projects within the Looe and Fowey VMCAs were used to support the designations of these two pMCZs for that rare habitat.


Seasearch divers have carried out surveys at all Five VMCAs during the course of the Your Shore project. In 2010 the entire sea search project was focussed on studying Cornish VMCAs– Much of this data has been used to argue the case for marine conservation zones.

Monthly Wetland bird surveys have been carried out at Helford VMCA for 2 years now and this will continue at the end of the project.

In 2009 - 2011 via the Seaquest Netsafe project, sea watches were set up within the St Agnes VMCA and overlooking the Looe VMCA. This data was used in Cornwall Wildlife Trusts Seaquest Netsafe study which has focussed on reduction of accidental by catch of cetaceans in Cornish waters. The effort based data set of sea life sightings created has been really important in the consideration of mobile species in establishment of Marine Conservation Zones.

At Fowey VMCA Heronry surveys are being carried out for the first time this summer and a dedicated bird watching subgroup of the Friends of the Fowey aims to get involved with Breeding bird surveys and wetland bird surveys this year.

At Polzeath VMCA seabird populations, seal and cetacean numbers have been monitored during monthly boat surveys carried out in 2012 and will be repeated in 2013. This has provided important mobile species data to support the Padstow Bay and Surrounds proposed Marine Conservation Zone.

Detailed bird and seal surveys have been carried out at Looe Island within the Looe VMCA for the last 3 years, which has supported the Whitsand and Looe Bay proposed Marine Conservation Zone.

Shore surveys have been carried out in all 5 VMCAs, including transect surveys at Looe island and detailed shore search transects at all five VMCAs in September 2012. These surveys have highlighted the presence of BAP species, including the Stalked Jellyfish at all five VMCAs, as well as documenting the exceptionally high biodiversity at all sites.

A very detailed Norman Holme survey was carried out in 2011 at Helford VMCA.

Dormouse surveys are carried out regularly at Fowey VMCA.

Seaquest surveys monitoring cetacean and other megafauna activity are being carried out at all VMCAs.

Juvenile bass surveys are carried out by VMCA volunteers within the upper reaches of the Helford VMCA.

An improved sense of ownership of the marine heritage has been achieved at each VMCA as a result of the activities of the Your Shore Project which will have a lasting effect on the sustainability of the marine environments of the VMCAs into the future.


Many threats to marine heritage have been highlighted and addressed through the work of the local VMCA groups. Gill netting off Looe VMCA has been monitored by volunteers and where illegal activities have been discovered, reports have been made to the managing authority, the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority. At Helford, the activities of unlicensed collection of shellfish from the shore has been monitored and highlighted as a concern by the group. Pollution has been monitored by volunteers at the South coast VMCAs. At Looe and Fowey VMCAs the volunteers have worked with the Environment Agency to highlight the problems with water course being brought to the fore by the new bathing water directive. At St Agnes local people with the help of the VMCA are raising awareness of the proposal to begin dredging for tin off the North Coast of Cornwall.

Much of the data collected by VMCA volunteers has already benefited our marine heritage having provided supporting evidence to back up the argument for better protection of the marine environment. Data collected by VMCA volunteers has been submitted, via Cornwall Wildlife Trust to DEFRA to support the campaign for establishment of Marine Conservation Zones.This project was well timed to build support for, and to collect and submit data supporting the establishment of marine conservation zones. Since the start of the project three of our VMCAs have, been recommended as Marine conservation zones. These are Whitsand and Looe bay (which encompasses the whole of Looe VMCA), Upper Fowey and Point Pill creek (including much of the Fowey VMCA) and Padstow Bay and surrounds (which includes Polzeath VMCA). Helford VMCA is part of the Fal and Helford Special area of Conservation. Both Fowey, Padstow and Looe were included in the first tranche of public consultation which was carried out this winter – the level of support from VMCA volunteers has been impressive and a huge number of people are now signed up via the CWT website as friends of their local marine conservation zones. Throughout the project volunteers were updated on the MCZ situation via regular MCZ e-newsletters and via our detailed website.

Records of features of conservation interest including sea grass beds, mussel beds, stalked jellyfish, dolphins, sea birds and seals have all contributed to this cause. Datasets have been submitted to the Government and these data have been considered appropriate by Defra because they are less than 3 years old.

Volunteers from the VMCAs have also helped lobby the government for better marine protection. The ‘petition fish’ campaign by the Wildlife Trusts was heavily supported by our VMCA volunteers. Cornwall Wildlife Trust submitted 15,000 signed petition scales calling for establishment of a network of Marine Conservation Zones, many of which were collected during the hundreds of Your Shore events that took place between 2010 and spring 2013. During this period many of the volunteers actively campaigned for better protection of our marine environment and wrote to MPs and used social media to put pressure on the Government.

The Your Shore project played a key role in engaging and educating the public in Cornwall about Marine Conservation Zones and how they could get involved in the process and have their say. In conclusion the project has enabled people to take action that has contributed to the conservation of Cornwall’s marine heritage.


2b: What difference will your project make for people?As has already been described, the project has reached over 16,000 people and far more people indirectly through media articles, websites and social media. Investing in training and engagement with long term volunteers and school teachers have made a massive impact on a large number of participants who have told us how empowered and confident the training has made them feel.

Here are some comments on the impact of the Your Shore Project taken from survey forms and emails sent to the Your Shore Project Officer;

An unforgettable experience learning and discovering the amazing and surprising wildlife on our doorstep. It has made me hungry to learn more and do more. Everyone is so enthusiastic about carrying on the VMCAs after the project ends and also taking on school trips. I have made some lifelong friends and felt part of a community that had a real positive impact. A big thank you to Matt, Abby and the team for passing on their knowledge and enthusiasm.Gill Bridges, Looe Marine Conservation Group

"The team within the Your Shore project have enabled us at Polzeath marine centre to gain the vital skills, knowledge and confidence required for us to work towards independence. Being part of a community group doing such positive educational and environmental work in a place I am passionate about means everything to me. It is so rewarding being part of this team and our enthusiasm is infectious. The funding has helped us form the foundations for a lasting legacy.Jo Arvor, Polzeath Marine Conservation group

"I've always loved the sea and been interested in wildlife and conservation but had never made any effort to get involved, believing that it was better left to it the experts, that was until I heard about the Your Shore project. This provided me with all sorts of opportunities to learn about my local marine environment at St Agnes. Over the last few years I've gone from knowing virtually nothing about the marine life on my doorstep to being able to identify many species, teach others and organise events. Thanks to the Your Shore project St Agnes now has a thriving and growing group of volunteers who like me are all passionate about their local environment and actively take part in marine conservation even though most us are not biologists or experts. Not only is the work we do making a real difference but volunteering has completely transformed my life giving me a real sense of purpose and fulfilment, I can't imagine my life without it."Dan Murphy, St Agnes Marine Conservation Group

The Your Shore Project has been an outstanding success in Looe. Since its inception in 1996, the Looe Voluntary Marine Conservation Area (Looe VMCA) struggled to maintain public engagement up until the point when it came under the leadership of Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Since then, it has flourished and has now reached the point where the Looe Marine Conservation Group has been established as an independent, self-sustaining collection of volunteers who champion the local marine


environment. It is unlikely that this would have been achieved without the Your Shore Project.Dr Nick Pope, marine scientist and member of Looe Marine Conservation

We have achieved far more than could be hoped at the start of the project. In the project application it was stated that we would deliver 10 public events per VMCA per year resulting in 150 events during the 3 year project. Thanks to the help of the dedicated volunteer leaders this number was increased so that a total of 259 public events were held.

The project evaluation report provides more information about the benefits of the project to people. 2.c: How many volunteers do you expect will work on your project from start to finish?It was estimated that at least 100 volunteers would work on the project – It is difficult to accurately calculate the number of active volunteers but the total number of people who have signed up as active volunteers for the VMCA groups is 409.

2.d: How many people will receive training through your project?It was estimated in the project application that at least 100 volunteers would receive training. In fact the total number of people to receive training through the Your Shore Project is 609 at a total of 37 training events. This only takes into consideration formal training events – in fact many more volunteers received informal training whilst attending surveys and public events.

2.e: How will you maintain the benefits of your project in the long term?As described under aim 3 above, each VMCA group now has a constitution and a committee and a plan for the future continuation of their work. They all have dedicated volunteers who have invested a vast amount of time and effort to have got this far, so it is highly likely that the work of the groups will continue. Cornwall Wildlife Trust will still be working closely, although much less intensively, with the groups and as two of the groups (St Agnes and Looe) will be local specialist groups of the Wildlife Trust they will be receiving regular support and benefits.

Local steering groups have been set up at all of the VMCAs (with the exception of St Agnes who are still in the process of establishing a steering group).

At each VMCA teachers have been trained to lead rockpool rambles and provided with the equipment and resources needed. At each VMCA volunteers will be encouraged to continue to contact local schools to ensure this important work is carried on. Through its experience at marine community engagement developed through the Your Shore project, the Trust has been able to get involved in a European (Interreg) funded project called PANACHE (Protected Area Network Across the Channel ecosystem). PANACHE will enable the Trust’s marine team to continue to carry out engagement work within VMCAs and other Marine Protected Areas along Cornwall’s


South Coast over the next two years. Following the end of the Your Shore HLF funding, the Your Shore officer, Matt Slater has been appointed as the PANACHE Marine Awareness Officer and he will continue to support and help out with the volunteer groups of the south coast VMCAs at Fowey, Looe and Helford as well as look at engaging with people outside the VMCAs and potentially creating more volunteer groups in other areas.

The highly successful VMCA conferences that have been held for the last 2 years will continue to be held and organised by the Trust. The conference gives the volunteers a great forum for sharing information and ideas and enthusiasm. The feedback that we have received shows that this is well worth continuing with as the amount of effort needed in organising it is far outweighed in terms of benefit to local conservation groups.

With the government making slow moves towards the creation of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected areas, the role of VMCAs within this network is becoming increasingly important. It is vital that the good community marine conservation work established through the Your Shore Project continues as the effectiveness of the future Marine Conservation Zones will depend on strong public support for marine conservation.

Polzeath, Looe and Fowey VMCAs are all within recommended Marine Conservation Zones. The ground swell of support for marine conservation within these communities will make a massive difference firstly in the battle to get these zones established and, later in the process, the success of the zones will largely depend on good public support.

Already we are seeing a high level of organisation and to date all five VMCAs have been really successful in the delivery of their activities for 2013. This will be monitored and the Trust is in a position to offer a certain level of support to the groups in the future.

2.f: How will your Project affect the environment?As listed in the application form the project minimised its environmental impact by using IT communications to minimise need for travelling between sites. Volunteers and staff were encouraged to lift share. The Environmental Action plan laid out in the application was followed at all stages.

The network of committed local marine conservation volunteers has enabled local people to get involved in real conservation work. It also makes dealing with marine pollution and other issues far more efficient. A good example was the teamwork shown as volunteers across Cornwall worked together to tackle the terrible numbers of seabird strandings due the PIB pollution incident of April 2013.

Section 3: Media summaryA total of 25 press releases were put out during the course of the Your Shore Project. From this 41 articles were published in local newspapers and magazines including Cornwall Life, Cornwall Today, Natural World, West Britain, Cornish Guardian, Western Morning News, Falmouth Packet, the Cornishman, Newquay Voice.Refer to Your Shore press summary evidence document 16.


Three short films were made which were screened at the Polytechnic Arts Cinema, Falmouth and were widely seen via You tube. It was not originally planned to produce the films however, due to contacts made through the early development of the project, the opportunity to produce the three high quality films arose.

Five articles were also published in the Cornwall Wildlife Trust magazine – Wild Cornwall which has a readership of over 14,000.

The Your Shore Project also featured on TV in Escape to the Country (BBC2) in August 2010 and on Country file (BBC1) (piece on Looe VMCA).

During the 3 years of the Your Shore Project, 983,332 visits to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Website were logged, including 4,191 visits to the Your Shore Project and Living seas website. A total of 34,0000 leaflets promoting Your Shore events and activities were produced during the 3 years of the project and these were distributed effectively across the county.

Posters displayed in prominent places around the Your Shore Project catchment areas also helped to raise the profile of the project and the events. Facebook and Twitter were used to further promote the project and the VMCA groups activities.

Copies of Press Coverage:


Section 4: ConclusionCornwall Wildlife Trust is extremely proud of the achievements of the Your Shore Project. Without the funding provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and South West Water this project would not have been carried out. At the end of the project we now have local volunteer groups who are well motivated, trained and enthused to continue with the work of promoting our wonderful local marine heritage. Our vital marine life has a far stronger local voice thanks to this project.

The methods developed through the Your Shore project will be disseminated and shared and rapidly are becoming viewed as best practice for engagement with the general public and motivating people to work together to support marine conservation.

There are many other areas where local communities are ready to start working in this way and we hope to be able to continue with this essential community support and development work in future.

Matt Slater Your Shore Project Officer.

Additional information on the Your Shore project has been submitted in the form of:

Evaluation report

Activity Plan

Evidence summary and evidence documents

Additional records are held at Cornwall Wildlife Trust


€¦ · web viewfrom this 41 articles were published in local newspapers and magazines including...

Documents