€30,000 grant awarded to Fix the Fells
The Fix the Fells project secured a fantastic cash boost from the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) this week which will allow vital work to begin on two of England’s most iconic mountain routes; Striding Edge to Helvellyn’s summit and Scafell Pike, England’s highest peak.
The routes will benefit from a €30,000 grant awarded by the EOCA, a group of businesses in the European outdoor industry that raises funds to put directly into conservation.
Both attract hundreds of thousands of walkers every year and there is an urgent need to safeguard their delicate high plateau ecologies and continue work already started to ensure that these stunning fells continue to provide safe and beautiful routes for walkers.
Work on Scafell Pike will stabilise the fragile landscape, realign the pathway away from the water course and repair erosion scars.
The work on Helvellyn - England’s third highest peak - will protect vegetation and rare arctic alpine plants of its high mountain plateau. The rare plant the ‘Alpine Mouse-Ear’ has now disappeared altogether from some areas. In Red Tarn, the lake below the ridge, the white Schelly fish face a bleak future as loose soil is spilling down from the eroded ridge and clogging spawning grounds.
Richard Fox, Project Officer for Fix the Fells,
“These are popular routes and the footfall of thousands of visitors takes its toll on the delicate ecology of these upland paths. This award will help us protect them and ensure that we all continue to enjoy the freedom to walk these amazing routes.”
The funding will also fund the training and support of 40 volunteers and 15 lengthsmen delivering 1000 volunteer days of path repairs, maintenance and management in 2011.
Tanya Bascombe, general manager of the European Outdoor Conservation Association,
“We are confident that this €30,000 grant will make a huge difference to the future of these iconic routes. The award made by the EOCA means that the delicate ecology of these high plateaus is protected and walkers are able to enjoy a safe and beautiful route through this stunning landscape.”
