Volunteer praised for efforts to help to tackle climate change in Scarborough

North Yorkshire Council is overseeing a host of initiatives to ensure that it achieves an ambition of reaching carbon net zero by 2030, and the work of volunteers is seen as vital to conduct grassroots schemes to conserve the county’s vast natural habitats.

Members of the council’s executive have also endorsed a bid for York and North Yorkshire to become the first carbon negative region in the country, meaning more carbon dioxide emissions would be removed from the atmosphere than are emitted.

Among those who are involved in conservation projects is Audrey McGhie, 61, a nurse at Scarborough Hospital.

She is among a 20-strong group of volunteers with the Yorkshire Seal Group to teach visitors to respect the wildlife that lives on the coastline. They provide telescopes and binoculars, so people can watch the seals unobtrusively.

“I am very interested in anything to do with conservation and wildlife,” she said. “I lived in the Falklands for a long time and saw the wildlife there, which includes a lot of different types of seal. I also saw the effect people are having on the marine environment.

“If I can get more people interested and aware of the environment and the impact we have on marine life, I am helping in some small way.”

North Yorkshire has five protected landscapes covering almost 50 per cent of its famous countryside.

Cllr Carl Les, North Yorkshire Council’s leader, said: “Volunteers play such an important role in society, but their work on conservation projects in North Yorkshire is invaluable.

“Like all councils across the country, we are facing significant financial pressures, and volunteers are such an important additional strand to support the work we do. We are committed to working closely with volunteers throughout North Yorkshire as their efforts provide such a valuable resource for us.”

Among the initiatives that are being considered to help with habitat restoration and improving biodiversity is a proposed local nature recovery strategy. Every county in England is required to produce a strategy to address the decline of nature and to improve the environment.

The planned strategy for York and North Yorkshire, which is due to be in place in 2025, will identify priorities for nature's recovery, map the most valuable existing areas and identify opportunities for creating and improving habitats.

Funding of £388,000 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been allocated to prepare the strategy throughout the current and next financial years.

Work to tackle climate change has also been identified as an initial priority for millions of pounds in funding which has been made available from the Government for projects in North Yorkshire.

The council has £16.9 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to award by March 31, 2025, to projects that will improve communities and place, develop skills and support local people and businesses to prosper. A further £5.4 million from the Rural England Prosperity Fund is also available, aimed at boosting the economic prospects of the county’s rural areas.

The first programmes open for applications are the community climate action and business sustainability programmes, which aim to support the decarbonisation of North Yorkshire.

Figures show that North Yorkshire produced 5,829 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (kt co2e) in 2020, with agriculture equating to a third of the total, transport responsible for 28 per cent and 19 per cent coming from homes.

North Yorkshire Council is celebrating the difference that volunteers make by sharing stories from across the county as part of the Team North Yorkshire campaign.

More information about volunteering in North Yorkshire is available at www.northyorks.gov.uk/TeamNorthYorkshire online.

Information about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund’s programmes, including the support and funding available, eligibility criteria, when they will open and how to apply, is available at www.northyorks.gov.uk/ukspf online.