Share your memories and experiences of WWT Caerlaverock
Angela Alexander-Lloyd, our Artist in Residence, is exploring changes in the wildlife and environment of Dumfries and Galloway and is appealing for people to share their memories and experiences.
Angela is creating art installations focusing on the transformation that has taken place in the space of a single generation, with some species of birds, plants and animals vanishing altogether. There will be a particular emphasis on whooper swans which migrate from the Iceland to the Solway Firth each year.
Angela has been working at the reserve, finding out about the trust’s efforts to protect and conserve the magnificent species, and talking to members of the public who observe and photograph them. Once her artworks are complete they will be exhibited at the reserve.
Angela said: “Being at Caerlaverock has been brilliant, I have discovered so much about the birds – their stories, their family lives and the efforts to combat the threats to their survival. I’ve also met some remarkable members of the public who know an enormous amount about the wildlife of Dumfries and Galloway. They are quite inspirational.
“The environment has changed at incredible speed in recent decades and I would be really interested to hear and record people’s recollections about what has happened during their lifetimes.
“That could be about the birds and animals they once saw around them in Dumfries and Galloway and which are rarer now or have disappeared completely, or perhaps the differences in the plants and landscapes. This is such a special area, I would love to learn more and share some of it with a wider audience.”
With climate change bringing new threats Angela, a former City stockbroker, is keen for as many people as possible to engage in the debate about the future of the environment. She believes that encouraging people to think about the changes they have witnessed will help bring home the scale of damage that will take place if climate change goes unchecked.
Angela can be contacted on 07968 486672.
