Watchtree Nature Reserve

Conclusion

When discussing the project with the parties concerned, three things stand out.

First, the impact of FMD in this part of Cumbria is by no means over. There can be no doubt that people associated with this project are still coming to terms with the scale and the individual experiences associated with the disaster that ruined many farms in 2001. As one committee member said,  ‘To this day I cannot talk about foot and mouth without it bringing tears to my eyes’.

Second, given this context,  the Great Orton Airfield site has a deeply emblematic significance that is difficult for anyone not directly caught up in the events of that time to appreciate. It dominates not only the landscape but also the collective memory.  Some local farmers, for example, refuse to set foot on the site, such is the pain and searing sense of crisis they experienced during the FMD outbreak as they witnessed all their cattle and sheep going off to be slaughtered.

Third, a truly remarkable and genuine transformation has been achieved by the decision to manage the reserve locally through a social enterprise. There can be no doubt that it represents a brave and resolute step by the communities affected by FMD to come to terms with what happened and to move on. 

Watchtree Nature Reserve is an example of community, national and regional organisations and countryside agencies working in active partnership to benefit the environment and education of future generations. Several partner organisations have come together to make the project a success. They include: DEFRA and its facilities management companies; Watchtree Liaison Committee; Cumbria County Council; Allerdale Borough and Carlisle City Councils; English Nature; Cumbria Wildlife Trust; Environment Agency; and Aikton, Great Orton, Kirkbampton and Thursby Parish Councils.  But above all, this initiative has come from the community. Local people have teamed up with organisations in the area to find the best way to bring about a solution to the FMD burial site legacy at Watchtree. This strength through teamwork may well be the best asset Watchtree Nature Reserve possesses.

  • Long term strategic planning can overcome even the worst environmental setbacks.
  • Local people can team up and work effectively with organisations and government ministries to find local solutions to problems. 
DEFRA is using the Watchtree Nature Reserve model at another Foot and Mouth Burial site and at an old wartime munitions factory in Britain.