Making space for the natural world
The Merlindale Nature Festival August 24th 2024
On the 24th of August Merlindale hosted its third Nature Festival which included a collection of local and regional groups involved in wildlife conservation and nature restoration. The event also hosted a lot of different nature related walks, including the very popular (and once again very successful) red squirrel walk, as well as an array of refreshments provided by the Broughton Village Shop. Last but certainly not least we welcomed Stephanie Schaffler and her horses who worked in tandem with expert scyther Rob Brodie to mow the meadow during his scything workshop.
Once again we had a large collection of groups attending who we can't wait to introduce you to.
This years festival proudly introduced two new organisations. Firstly, we welcomed Future Forests who are striving to ensure the creation of a sustainable biodiverse countryside through their projects which are breaking phenomenal milestones; including planting of over one million trees! Our second new organisation was none other than Happy Hedgerows, who make beautiful locally sourced leather goods including bags, belts, bookmarks and much more.
This year were are also pleased to welcome back our friends at the Tweed Forum whose support and conservation efforts are unparalleled. We are also proud to have welcomed back local community group Connecting Threads.
Last year The Tweed Foundation provided an awesome electrofishing display which we can gladly say was a great success once again; Ben McCallum even delivered a demonstration in the afternoon!
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The Tweeddale Red Squirrel Network (TRSN) joined us with more information on their important project which is at the centre of the resurgence of red squirrels in the Borders.
Merlindale is pleased to have rewelcomed the Southern Upland Partnership in this year's event. Their South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has been working since 2017 to increase the small, isolated and vulnerable population of golden eagles in the South of Scotland through a series of translocations. they have successfully released over 30 birds bringing the total population to a level not seen in over 300 years. Alongside these releases they work closely with stakeholders and communities to reignite an understanding and appreciation of this iconic apex predator in its native range.
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The Borders Organic Gardeners with their beautifully arranged stall from last year returned again this year to provide amazing information on how to turn your gardens into sustainable, biodiverse, and delicious habitats.
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Another beautifully arranged stall that returned to the festival was that of the Scottish Borders Fungus Group who work to raise awareness of the importance of fungi. Each fungi which was in the stall will have been picked up from somewhere in Merlindale!
This year we welcomed Buglife, who have been central to our understanding of the sheer scale of our loss of insect biomass over recent decades and who are of paramount importance to attempts to reverse this trend. It was Buglife who in 2021 commissioned the research which provided us with the knowledge that we are losing flying insect pollinators at the rate of 34% per decade.
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Peebles' own Stuart Craig returned to the Festival once again bird ringing throughout the event for our bioblitz, visitors also got to experience the beauty of some Merlindale's many different bird species up close. Stuart worked right opposite bodger Robert Fleet whose expert wood craftsmanship was a miracle to watch; he's was also expert company for a good chat!
Festival Recap
Watch our 2024 Merlindale Nature Festival video below.