RESIDENTS in rural County Durham are being encouraged to discover more about their local area.

The Heart of Teesdale Landscape Partnership is organising workshops and training courses as part of a Landscape Discovery project.

It kicks off with a foraging for wild food workshop on Saturday, May 24, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm at Flatts wood, Barnard Castle.

Workshop leader Bruce Ferguson will identify common plants, highlighting what’s edible and what’s not.

Mr Ferguson will also host a bushcraft workshop where participants will learn how to make a shelter and start a fire.

This takes place on Saturday, June 28, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm, in Deepdale Woods, Barnard Castle.

For those more interested in species identification, a training session on the plant species of limestone grassland will be held on Wednesday, June 18, at the Bowlees Visitor Centre.

Led by Fal Sarker, Elizabeth Elliott and Carole Sobkowiak, of the Darlington and Teesdale Naturalists Field Club, the course will give beginners a basic introduction to the different plant species found in this wonderful habitat.

They are also offering a training course on how to survey and monitor otters on Saturday, July 12, at Low Barns Visitor Centre and is being led by Dr Vivien Kent, from the Durham Wildlife Trust.

For more information contact Susie Lane, on 03000-264903 or susanne.lane@durham.gov.uk