App allows people to follow the Skinflats Trail this Christmas

A great new trail, complete with an exciting 360 photography feature, has been launched on the app thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Helen Rashad, of Great Place Falkirk, said: “Collaboration has been key to our three-year project celebrating the rich heritage of the Falkirk area and this new addition to our popular app wouldn’t have been possible without input from supportive partnerships.

"We’re thrilled to be able to keep offering new ways to learn about and explore our fascinating local area.”

The Skinflats Trail is a fantastic new walking trail which celebrates local wildlife and highlights the impact of climate change.

Falkirk Community Trust worked alongside RSPB Scotland and the University of St Andrews to develop the trail as part of the Falkirk Science Festival 2021. Users can now walk and listen to fascinating stories about the unique habitats and wildlife living there as well as the scientific importance of the area.

The five-mile circular walk from The Helix to Skinflats was designed to teach the next generation all about important defences against global warming and explains about Blue Carbon – the natural carbon stores found in the marshland areas of the trail, that can help combat climate change.

Anna Plant, Falkirk Community Trust senior events officer, said: “It has been a delight to work with the University of St Andrews, RSPB, and Great Place Falkirk to develop this resource and see it welcomed into the schools.

"The science behind this trail is of worldwide importance as it indicates how marshes like Skinflats help to protect the environment by absorbing carbon.”

Falkirk’s Skinflats area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest where it was discovered that its marshlands can store carbon, one of the major contributors to global warming, for hundreds to thousands of years.

Skinflats could play a critical role in helping Scotland achieve NETZERO by 2030 and was featured in COP26.

The updated Falkirk Explored app is available to download free for Android and iOS.

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