Cheviot Futures is shortlisted for award
The newly constructed Breamish Valley Firepond on the Linhope Estate, located for water to be used with high velocity pumps and helicopter buckets to combat forest fires in the Cheviots. The site formed part of an exhibition for international deligates visiting the EUFOFINET conference
CHEVIOT Futures, the initiative led by Northumberland National Park Authority, has reached the final four in the Climate Week, Best Climate Ready Initiative Award.
The finalists show innovative or effective projects and organisations that help society adapt to the effects of a changing climate.
The Cheviot Futures partnership, which includes the National Park Authority, the Environment Agency and the Tweed Forum, was established in 2009 to help rural communities and businesses in north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders to cope with the effects of climate change.
The initiative supports the development of simple and practical long-term resilience measures to maintain business viability when extreme weather events occur. It also has strong social and environmental priorities.
To enable land managers to put in place proven techniques to safeguard their assets, the partnership has undertaken a number of innovations to date. These include the establishment of a new firepond in the Cheviots to provide a water resource suitable for firefighting to protect the irreplaceable peat soils of heather moorland habitat.
It has also undertaken innovative farm resilience plans to identify areas of risk in the event of extreme weather and climate change, implemented innovative capital works and hosted training courses and demonstration days on topical issues such as wildfire management, natural flood management and sustainable riverbank protection using best practice from around the UK and Europe.
John Riddle, chairman of Northumberland National Park Authority said: “It is well known that in the event of extreme weather disasters, most businesses never manage to get back on their feet again.
“The landscape of the National Park is a product of the rural businesses that operate within it and we are committed to making every effort to ensure their continuity in the face of increasingly unpredictable and harsh weather.
“Cheviot Futures has been an exemplary partnership and we are very proud that it has been shortlisted for the prestigious Climate Week Awards.”
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Weather for Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 3 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North east
