The AONB Partnership works very closely with the Bittern Countryside Community Interest Company which was formed to carry out activities which benefit the community, and in particular, to work to conserve and enhance the Arnside & Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Click here to visit their website.

Company shareholders and volunteers are dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of the AONB; want to get the local community involved; want to help our villages to thrive; and are happy to help either by buying shares or by volunteering time and energy.

There are currently five main strands to their work:

Low Carbon Initiative

They have helped with the installation of solar PV systems in several local community buildings. Costs of the installation were shared and now both parties benefit from the Feed-in Tariff.

Energy Efficiency

They have produced energy saving booklets to help people use wood efficiently, are helping with a local woodbank initiative and have recently awarded a grant to enable the installation of LED lighting in a local community building.

Conservation of our flora and fauna

A series of 14 books to help people find and enjoy the plants and wildlife that make our AONB special have been produced and work continues with others in the AONB to make sure our rarest species can flourish.

Conservation Grazing

All the reserves in the AONB depend on grazing to stay in good heart. The company aims to help this in any way they can.

Land Watch

They keep an eye on local land sales and see if they can help any of our conservation partners if a prime site for a reserve comes up. They also monitor planning applications, submitting comments to the Local Planning Authorities if they consider proposals to be detrimental to the AONB.

For further information about all of these, free downloads of the booklets and information on how to get involved, visit their web site at www.bitterncountrysidecic.org.uk or email info@bitterncountrysidecic.org.uk