Plymouth’s vast array of local nature reserves will get new dedicated urban rangers as part of a new project.
The Plymouth Natural Grid will support the ongoing Green Minds project in helping to make nature more accessible to residents across the city.
It will create 22 new jobs, including five urban rangers, who will work across and care for Council and National Trust sites across the city.
The rangers will also deliver skills, training and learning opportunities for young people, with Kickstart placements (for people not in employment, education or training) and short-term accredited learning programmes.
Nature conservation will be at the forefront of the project, with improvements across our 13 protected sites that focus on rewilding and nature restoration.
There will also be a programme of community engagement to ensure that Plymouth’s more deprived urban areas are connected to their local nature reserve.
The scheme is part of an 18-month partnership project between the Council, National Trust and Real Ideas Organisation and is funded by a £1.2m grant from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund.
The money will not only support the new jobs but restore and connect wildlife sites across the city and open up opportunities for local communities to get engaged and become nature advocates.
Councillor Patrick Nicholson, Deputy Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “Plymouth is a very green city, with nature reserves right on the doorsteps of thousands of residents.
“What’s so exciting about this project is that for the first time, we will be able to make sure that each reserve is as accessible; is as bio-diverse and is as well kept as the next, allowing us to help springboard the city’s post-pandemic nature recovery from Ernesettle, right across to Saltram.”
Jez McDermott, General Manager for the National Trust at Saltram said: “We’re really pleased to be working in partnership with Plymouth City Council and Real Ideas with funding from GRCF.
“This project is a great boost right across the city for training and employment within the natural environment. A city wide project, our joint urban ranger team will engage communities and young people whilst delivering a range of exciting and innovative nature based solutions, including at Saltram and Plymbridge woods.”
Ed Whitelaw from the Real Ideas Organisation said: “Nature conservation is about our collective future, it is therefore right that young people are at the centre of Plymouth’s Natural Grid, as both our future environmental leaders and the biggest stakeholders”.
The Plymouth Natural Grid is one of 90 nature projects across England to be backed by the Government’s £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund.