A key aim of the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership is to encourage people of working age to stay in the area, and for our young folk to get work experience and plan their futures in Galloway. Plans are underway with a range of partners to support this activity and this week sees the first opportunity coming to fruition.
Hosted and led by our friends at the Galloway Fisheries Trust, a six-month paid internship is now being advertised, seeking a recent graduate with a conservation, fisheries or freshwater ecology degree to gain valuable work experience.
The successful applicant will be involved in delivering a range of research, conservation and community engagement projects, including working on the ‘Black Water of Dee Habitat restoration project’ to enhance riparian and instream habitats and designing an eel research project and delivering an education project in local schools about eels.
The intern position is scheduled to run from August 2020 to February 2021. For more information and details on how to apply, visit the Galloway Fisheries Trust website. Closing date 6th August. (Weblink = www.gallowayfisheriestrust.org/news.php?nID=333)
A second 6-month internship, building on the work of this first post, is planned for summer 2021 and will be advertised closer to the time.
Both interns will be embedded within the Galloway Fisheries Trust team, a conservation charity working on fish populations, their habitats and water quality across the freshwaters of Galloway. Jamie Ribbens, Senior Biologist at Galloway Fisheries Trust, said:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for a young person to join our team and get involved hands-on with delivering some important conservation projects on local rivers. Galloway Fisheries Trust have an important role to play in this region to help develop and train young people who wish to pursue an environmental career. We look forward to hosting both these internships this year and next.”
Both intern positions are funded jointly by the Galloway Glens, using funds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the Holywood Trust.
Helen Keron, the Galloway Glens’ Education & Community Engagement Officer, said:
“One of the primary outcomes of the Galloway Glens scheme is to support thriving, sustainable communities by demonstrating that there are many career options in the area open to young people who want to live and work here. These internships are a great example of that, offering real work experience in a fascinating technical subject. We look forward to working with the Galloway Fisheries Trust to help ensure that the two successful candidates get an excellent experience from these internships.
Our thanks go to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and lottery players around the country, without whom this would not be possible.”
The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme is a suite of projects happening across the catchments of the rivers Ken and Dee from 2018 to 2023. £2.7million of core funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will be matched by a variety of partners to bring over £5million of investment into the area over the 5 years. The area stretches from the uplands behind Carsphairn in the north, through the Glenkens, past Loch Ken, through Castle Douglas and out to the sea at Kirkcudbright. 35 headline projects plus more Small Grants projects all aim to connect people with their cultural, natural and built heritage, and to support sustainable modern rural communities. For more information about the scheme, visit www.gallowayglens.org.
