Project Officer – Hadrian’s Wall, Greenlee Nature Recovery
Full time (£27,741 -£31,346 per annum)
3 years fixed term contract
Northumberland National Park is about to embark on its most
significant nature recovery project to date and it is based on one
of the region’s most significant landscapes: Greenlee Site of
Special Scientific Interest, on Hadrian’s Wall Unesco World
Heritage Site. This is a unique and exciting opportunity for a
skilled Project Officer to be a key part of the creation of an
innovative nature first exemplar that will provide huge
environmental benefits, endless educational, training and research
opportunities and provide inspiration to potential partners and the
public alike.
Project proposal
This project will take a natural capital approach to land
management whilst integrating access, education, volunteering and
engagement opportunities. It will create an exemplar nature first
project on a UNESCO world heritage site.
In 1949, in post-war Britain, National Parks were designated to
protect the nation’s beautiful landscapes for everyone to enjoy. In
2020, their designation has as much, if not more, relevance today
as it did back then.
National Parks have a significant role to play in tackling
climate change, enhancing nature and providing engaging
opportunities which will improve the mental and physical wellbeing
of everyone.
Northumberland National Park Authority has a vision for nature
and people to recover together and it is this principle which is at
the very core of our proposal.
Greenlee Lough
Straddling the boundary between border moors and forests, and
Tyne Gap and Hadrian’s Wall National Character Areas, Greenlee
Lough and its surroundings nestle in the heart of Hadrian’s Wall
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The site is of international geological significance and is
typical of the rich and diverse landscape which features along the
Hadrian’s Wall corridor. Overlooked by Hadrian’s Wall, Greenlee
Lough is around 1.5km north of the Whin Sill ridge.
The land adjacent to the lough is an upland landholding, a
typical Northumberland farm producing beef and lamb. There are
three farm tenancies nearby with their tenancies due to expire in
December 2020.
It is Northumberland National Park’s vision to take a nature
first approach to land management and create an area within the
National Park which is a leading exemplar of innovative and diverse
conservation management. Through a nature first approach, we want
this unique and special habitat to thrive with wildlife returning
and habitats expanding, providing new opportunities for people of
all ages to reconnect with nature.
A site of significant geographical and historic importance,
Greenlee features an abundance of internationally important habits
and wildlife. The landscape features elevated ridges and shallow
troughs, dramatic outcrops of igneous rock form pronounced
north-facing scarps and south-facing dip slopes. The Lough is
surrounded by open moorland with mat and purple moor grass, peat
bog and improved pastures and commons.
Nature has chosen to thrive here already, with an interesting
mix of habitats including wetlands and shallow waters providing a
haven for wading birds and wildfowl. The lough itself is accessed
via a boardwalk to protect the fragile deep peat bogs beneath it.
Sponge like sphagnum mosses are the dominant plants here but cotton
grass and round-leaved sundew provide a special habitat where large
heath butterfly survive and their caterpillars can feed.
As one of the most important wetland sites in Europe, unusual
aquatic plant life including several types of pondweed and
stonewort which thrive in very clean water, have led to the site’s
designation as a Special Area of Conservation, a Site of Special
Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve. It is the
largest freshwater lake in Northumberland, but is only 1.8 metres
at its deepest point. Creatures in the lough include pike, perch,
roach, eels and native white clawed crayfish. These provide food
for otters that make their homes in the surrounding vegetation and
woodlands, and have also lured Osprey to return to the area. The
site is important for wildfowl, particularly in winter and there is
a bird hide which is open all year round.
The site is of archaeological significance including prehistoric
standing stones and stone circles, Iron-Age and Romano-British
Settlements, extensive Roman remains associated with the Roman
frontier, medieval tower houses, post-medieval limekilns and the
remains of extensive mining and quarrying.
Engagement
It is our vision to create a place where nature and people can
thrive in harmony, providing an abundance of learning, volunteering
and engagement experiences with nature at their heart.
In Greenlee, we have an opportunity to create a new space for
education, where people of all ages can connect with nature and
learn new, innovative conservation methods in an accessible way.
Due to its location, Greenlee will complement our existing
engagement programme at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery
Centre and provide opportunities to diversify our current education
programme and include classroom-led theory based learning alongside
practical experiences in the field. Through partnership working
with the region’s leading universities and further education
colleges as well as organisations such as the National Trust and
Wildlife Trust, we will create a world-leading programme of higher
education opportunities and volunteering programmes. Greenlee is a
place loved by bird-watchers and walkers which can be enhanced to
provide families with a destination for recreational activities
designed to encourage a love of nature, cultural heritage and
National Parks.
The project
We will research and develop the landscape at Greenlee alongside
our partners to create a unique education and engagement model to
enhance nature for future generations to enjoy. Greenlee would
become a site to promote new farming and land management practices
whilst promoting more space for nature and realising Greenlee’s
full potential as a site for carbon sequestration in Northumberland
National Park.
Examples of practical conservation and engagement
opportunities
· Encourage livestock grazing to increase grassland
biodiversity, watercourse management, improving and repairing marsh
walls and land tracks, wetland management, introduction of native
woodland.
· Restore the historic lough boathouse and entry canal (circa
1828)
· Restore watercourses and identify water management
improvements to allow nature to thrive
· Restore grassland for nature
· Restore peat wetland to encourage carbon sequestration
· Woodland management and native woodland creation
· Work with Universities to create opportunities for innovative
data measurement and data capture
· Create learning and outdoor experiences based around science,
conservation, education, health and wellbeing and visitor
management
· Seek opportunities to work with audiences and community
groups
Research and development of a wider landscape partnership
approach
· Developing a partnership approach alongside neighbouring farms
and the National Trust and engage wider partner such as the
Wildlife Trust and RSPB. Encouraging neighbouring land owners and
tenants to work together with Northumberland National Park
Authority to produce landscape mapping which will inform decisions
around the future of land management on the site. This will provide
the foundations for the future wider landscape partnership
approach.
· Create an exemplar farming landscape, which adopts ideologies
which will make space for nature
· Work with agricultural education partners to use the site for
learning and research purposes, creating an education link to The
Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre and offering adult and
visitor learning around various nature-led themes.
Next steps
We believe this could be a project of regional and National
importance showcasing nature led approaches to land management on
an accessible and scientifically and historically important site.
This project will be a catalyst enabling us to work with key
partners in the region to build on the importance of nature and
influence others approach.
The longer term vision for this bold landscape project is 10 -
15 years. In this the short term we have been successful in
securing the first three years of funding from a private
source.
If you are interested to learn more or apply for this exciting
role please contact, Mary Wallace – HR Officer Northumberland
National Park Authority on [email protected] or see our recruitment
pages on the NNPA web site at
https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/about-us/jobs-volunteering/jobs/
