Of late Aberdeen City Council’s Environmental Services team has adopted a more natural approach to managing many of the city’s greenspaces. That’s good news for nature, and the people of Aberdeen. As the team in the north-east are quick to point out, managing urban spaces specifically for nature is an effective conservation strategy to help protect biodiversity, while spending time in nature-rich green spaces helps improve our mental and physical health.
There is a rapid coming to terms with the need to take action across Scotland to manage greenspaces more sustainably. There are two towering drivers. One is to mitigate against the impacts of climate change, the other is to support biodiversity.
In the biodiversity mix are our pollinators. Our bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles and moths are under pressure, with habitat loss, disease, pesticides and climate change on the charge list. The philosophy adopted in Aberdeen, which restores and creates habitat, would work well across the country and take some of the pressure off pollinators.
Aberdeen’s changes are, by adopting common sense approaches such as reducing grass cutting, planting trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, boosting habitats for many species. What’s more they do so in a way which doesn’t exclude people and supports the urban environment.
That latter point will strike a chord with many to are increasingly looking to good green infrastructure to provide nature based solutions and improve city living. In Aberdeen the act of planting more trees alone improves the local air quality and reduces rainwater run-off.
The is no doubt that Aberdeen’s goals were hampered by the Coronavirus outbreak. The subsequent lockdowns meant that their Environmental Service was effectively stood down. This placed significant restrictions on much of the work that the service carried out. But in the background it was providing an opportunity to take stock of how the city manages its greenspaces and contemplate changes that could be made. And we know that across the globe the challenges of lockdowns reconnected people with nature.
Steven Shaw who is Aberdeen City’s Environmental Services Manager, was one of those who seized the moment to turn things on their head.
‘When the service resumed,” he says, “it was seen as a perfect opportunity to trial a different way to manage green space, with a focus to do so in a more natural way, to help with climate change mitigation and increase biodiversity benefits, but ensuring also that the Aberdeen public continued to enjoy access to good greenspaces.“The simplest way to manage these open spaces for nature was to reduce grass cutting and encourage nature to bloom. Many of the areas were, and remain, popular areas for walking, running, cycling and dog walking, and are away from the surfaced path network. To maintain access for these activities, wide paths have been cut though the areas of longer grass.
“Routes for these paths were chosen by following ‘desire lines’ where usage revealed the natural paths people were taking. This was often a link between points of interest or access to any existing surfaced path network. The extent of mown paths will be regularly assessed on a site-by-site basis. If more paths are requested the service will look to include them.”
An impressive list of sites across Aberdeen are now managed in a more natural way and benefit from relaxed mowing regimes and new planting. Sites benefitting from the new approach include
- Stonehaven Road
- Riverside Drive
- Garthdee Road
- Heatheryfold
- Maidencraig
- St Fitticks Park
- Westfield Park
- Raeden Park
- Parkway former Trunk Road Verges
- Culter Bypass
- Fernielea Park
- Kingswells Bypass
- Eric Hendrie Park
- The Woodies, Broomhill Road
- Skene Road Verges
- Riverview Drive
It is an impressive list, and what’s more it is particularly pleasing that the Aberdeen team didn’t just assume they had got it right. They surveyed the sites to see what changes had taken place, and noted the species thriving. That provided cast-iron confirmation that they were making a difference.
Around 80 species of wildflowers and plants were found in the list of sites. Those flowers included northern marsh orchids, buttercups, hawkbits, dandelions, scentless mayweed, ox-eye daisy, meadowsweet, cow parsley, bugle, sorrel, red clover, white clover, and birds-foot trefoil. Inevitably this had a beneficial knock on effect for a host of pollinators ensuring that there was variety and something in flower at different times.
It is important to emphasise that there is not always a ‘one size fits all’ solution to sites. All these areas will therefore receive a site-specific maintenance programme. This will include a mixture of different regimes, from areas being left alone, to grass being cut and uplifted once a year, through to grass that is cut twice per year. Of course, for the mixed use agenda to thrive grass paths and access points will need to be regularly cut and maintained. It’s that willingness and determination to go back and see what has worked and what needs tweaked that will serve Aberdeen well.
There is also a ‘softer’ dividend in the form of partnership working. As Steven noted “The new methods are ideal in developing skills and confidence around managing land for nature and biodiversity. What’s more they are highly visible and lead to increased interaction and engagement with other like-minded organisations enabling the Aberdeen Council team to strengthen green connections and networks between organisations and partners.”
He goes on to explain that “Changing the management regimes of public greenspaces is a move which is gaining momentum up and down the country. From ‘No Mow May’ to relaxed mowing there is a growing realisation that amenity grassland can work much better for nature with some tweaks.
“With increasing awareness of climate change, there is a need to take action to manage greenspaces more sustainably.
“Aberdeen’s Environmental Services believe that a managing spaces for nature is positive greenspace management and here to stay across the city. The new natural areas in Aberdeen are evidence that we are moving towards a greener, healthier city, and this has to be good news for Aberdeen’s people and its nature.”
Parks from London, to Newcastle, to Aberdeen are on the front line in the battle to better green our cities. Our greenspaces were a vital resource for communities in the pandemic, and they are a permanent opportunity for our hard pressed wildlife. That’s why the strides being made in the way Aberdeen manages its greenspaces should be applauded and encouraged.
Scottish pollinators 