The Lake District Foundation is delighted to have been awarded £73,000 for a long-term project to look after Windermere.
The funding has come from the Environment Agency’s Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund and will help to develop sustainable funding mechanisms to care for this special place.
Stretching 10.5 miles, Windermere is a gem of the Lake District.
It is under environmental pressure with pollution from a range of sources leading to increasing phosphorus levels and important habitats at risk of being lost or degraded.
The Lake District Foundation’s work will continue to arrest this decline and move to restore habitats under threat.
The Foundation will work with Windermere Stakeholder Forum partners including the Environment Agency and the Lake District National Park Authority, land managers and launch a community septic tank emptying scheme to improve water quality.
The project will also look to develop its own visitor-giving model which brings together large and small investors to help support the Windermere project long-term, to the benefit of nature, the economy and the community.
Sarah Swindley, Chief Executive Lake District Foundation, said: “We are delighted to receive this funding to help secure the future of Windermere.
“In partnership, we can build on the great work already started and ensure we have a long-term and sustainable approach to care for this beautiful and special place in our most-loved National Park.
“At the Lake District Foundation, we always work to find points of balance between nature, heritage, and our Cumbrian economy.
“We believe that by working respectfully together with all those who live in, work or visit the area, we can find the solutions. We will reveal more details of these exciting and much needed plans shortly.”