Herefordshire Wildlife Trust are very excited to be supporting Ella Curry, who has been awarded £500 by Grow Wild, the national outreach programme of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Ella is an ornithologist and entomologist living and working in Eardisland, Herefordshire. She has a keen interest in nature and environmentalism and loves to use art and writing to communicate this passion to others.
For her Grow Wild project, she will be undertaking botany training; surveying and recording the plants of the River Arrow; and producing a series of botanical paintings. These painting will then be compiled into an informative pamphlet to be stocked in the Community Shop in Eardisland. She will also hold an exhibition of her work in the Eardisland Village Hall and plans to use her botany training to continue to run workshops and talks within the local community and beyond.
The River Arrow is listed in a Soil Association report as one of ten national ‘Rivers at Risk’, and persistently fails its ecological targets, largely related to excessive nutrient pollution exacerbated by soil runoff. Eardisland village has also severely flooded with increased regularity in the last few years. The local community is working to promote Nature Friendly Farming solutions to diffuse pollution and surface water runoff.
Ella’s project aims to highlight the importance of aquatic flora in and around the river, explaining how it is an indicator of river health and the importance of river buffer zones. She hopes that her project will enthuse and educate the local community about river health and the importance of aquatic biodiversity.
Ella says: “I am so grateful to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust for agreeing to be the supporting organisation for my project. They are an excellent organisation that do so much to help nature, and I am lucky to be able to make use of their expertise and experience. I am really looking forward to working with them as I progress my project – this topic means so much to me, and I’m so excited to see how it all turns out and to hopefully make a difference.”
Julia Morton, Youth and Wellbeing Manager at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, says:
We are delighted to be working with and supporting Ella to realise her project. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and we can’t wait to see hoe her project progresses.
