Greetings to all our friends across the Biosphere and beyond! Seasonal festivities have passed and we are looking forward to a bright new year of exploring Scotland's beautiful south-west.
Between our monthly updates, don't forget you can contact any of our team at info@gsabiosphere.org.uk and find us on social media via the links at the bottom of this page.
These wintery pics come from Andrew, our Land Use & Biodiversity lead, who celebrated his Christmas break with a jaunt up Cairnsmore of Fleet.
We are delighted that the Biosphere Guide Training Course will be running again in 2022, delivered by Stef Lauer of Hands On Consulting. Designed for local people who are passionate about Biosphere life, these four days of free training will provide an introduction to guiding and hopefully inspire participants to create immersive visitor experiences that celebrate the best of local nature and culture; alumni of this course include Elizabeth Tindal, Freelance Ranger, and Craig Murray of South West Scotland Tours. Places are limited and we encourage anyone interested in applying to get in touch with Marie, our Business Development Officer, at marie@gsabiosphere.org.uk for more information or to schedule a chat.
This month volunteers are heading back into the trees at Balkail Glen, New Luce for a brand new year of woodland improvements. The Friends of the Glen worked throughout 2021 clearing invasive laurel, work which will make the area more accessible for local residents and improve plant and animal biodiversity. Upcoming volunteer sessions will be on Thursdays between 1 - 3 pm: January 13th, 20th, & 27th, and February 3rd & 10th (weather and Covid regulations permitting). Everyone is welcome to come along, bearing in mind your safety and wellbeing is your own responsibility. We recommend boots, gloves, and clothes that don't matter; bring a drink, and bring your own tools: hand saws, loppers, secateurs etc are all useful but don't bring your shiniest new Christmas gifted ones! Our photos below show Mick and Ken, two of the Friends, and GSAB's Jenna showing just a small pile of the laurel that has already been felled.
Year of Stories is VisitScotland's theme for 2022 and we strongly encourage all our tourism-based Biosphere businesses to get involved. With Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere a part of Scotland's UNESCO Trail and our post-Covid Green Recovery underway, there is a lot of support for SMEs in overcoming the current challenges in the industry. As always Team GSAB are here to help promote our Proud Supporter and Biosphere certified businesses: please get in touch with our Communications & Marketing lead, Tamara (tamara@gsabiosphere.org.uk), if you are hosting a special initiative or event that we can share on our social media platforms. Year of Stories 2022 is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the Biosphere's cultural heritage: our poets and writers, our myths and legends, and the histories of ordinary folk who have lived and worked here across unfathomable generations. By way of inspiration here's a photo taken at Gallovidia Books in Kirkcudbright, a Proud Supporter business which opened in 2021 and is supplying fact and fiction across the Biosphere and beyond!
A warm welcome to all the individuals, businesses and community groups that have signed up as Proud Supporters of our UNESCO Biosphere recently, despite the time pressures of the season. The amount of support for people, nature and the UN's Sustainability Goals across this region is amazing and everyone on Team GSAB firmly believes it demonstrates how southwest Scotland can be a model of better living for other regions and communities at home and abroad. Our newest Proud Supporters include artist and designerLizzie Farey, heritage sheep breeder and sustainable holiday locationLow Auldgirth Steading, inventors of the world famous 'Poacher's Pickle',Galloway Lodge, herbaceous perennialsspecialistsElmlea Plants, award-winning village enterpriseOchiltree Community Hub, and scenic Carrick getawayThe Walled Garden Touring Park. Plus many more - please check out our Proud Supporter map for your next Biosphere day out, shopping trip, or food and drink adventure.
Jenna, Esther and Marie spent some time in Girvan during December, meeting members of the community, local school pupils, and catching up with Councillor Alec Clark! It's a priority for our whole team to be accessible and we are working hard to ensure that information about what a UNESCO Biosphere is and does is reaching the people who actually live and work here, and those who can benefit most from local initiatives in education, business, land management, and community wellbeing. If you fancy a deep dive into the global network of Biosphere Reserves please take a look at UNESCO.org or if you have a project that you think could benefit from GSAB support get in touch via info@gsabiosphere.org.uk.
