FROM salt marsh to sea cliffs, sandy beaches to sheltered coves, Scotland’s 210-mile Solway Coast offers a spectacular diversity of stunning scenery.
Now it is set to be supported by £8 million as the first project to secure funding through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s £150 million Landscape Connections initiative.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Solway Coast and Marine Project Landscape Connections (SCAMP LC) will receive £1.4 million of investment to shape plans which will unlock further National Lottery funding of up to £6.4 million and act as an exemplar project in attracting further green finance.
The world class seascape of the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway stretches for more than 200 miles from the edge of the land border between Scotland and England round Scotland’s most southerly point, the Mull of Galloway, to the shores of Loch Ryan.
SCAMP LC will take a whole seascape approach to understand, conserve, restore and develop the potential of the natural and cultural heritage of the Solway Firth coast, working with the local community to deliver an extensive programme of habitat restoration.
The project is the first of around 20 across the UK which will be supported by the Heritage Fund through Landscape Connections, a long-term, large scale investment initiative aimed at boosting nature recovery, allowing rural economies to thrive, and connecting more people to our most treasured places.
Dumfries and Galloway Council is leading SCAMP alongside the project’s impressive roster of local partners, which includes Dumfries and Galloway Woodlands, Crichton Carbon Centre, Galloway Fisheries Trust, Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, The Solway Firth Partnership, The Southern Uplands Partnership and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland.
Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council councillor Gail MacGregor said: “Our beautiful Solway Coast has been so important to Scotland’s coastal and natural heritage though time.
“We are incredibly excited to have The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s support for SCAMP Landscape Connections confirmed as we plan for the best possible future for this cherished natural resource.
“By allowing our coastal and marine environment to thrive we will be bringing opportunities for learning, green jobs, wellbeing and nature related economic development to our communities.”
Delivered over ten years, including a two-year development phase), SCAMP Landscape Connections aims to adopt a whole seascape approach to understand, conserve, restore and develop the potential of the natural, cultural and built heritage of the Solway Firth coast.
