The Froglife Trust’s Coalface to Wildspace Project

That the Parliament welcomes the news that the Froglife Trust has been awarded grant funding of £940,480 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in Scotland for Coalface to Wildspace, which is a conservation and community engagement project that aims to restore and create habitats for native amphibians and reptiles; understands that the project will see work across 14 sites in Ayrshire, Lothian and South Lanarkshire, including Fernbrae Meadows in Rutherglen and Westburn Local Nature Reserve in Cambuslang, and that these sites will be connected through the development of nine neighbourhood wildlife corridors; notes that many are former collieries, pit dwellings and industrial areas and that the project aims to create 54 new ponds and restore 25 existing ones, improve the biodiversity of 24 surrounding habitats, improve access to green spaces and create opportunities for people to engage with the development of greenspace in their community; commends the Froglife Trust for its ongoing commitment to improving habitats, engaging with communities, encouraging learning about wildlife conservation and contributing to amphibian and reptile research, and wishes it all the very best for the success of this project.