Park Nature Needs You!

Friday, 29 October 2021 16:06

By David Murphy

Local community plants British flowers to boost local wildlif

Hundreds of native wild flowers have been planted by the local community over the last two months to tackle loss of city wildlife and increase local access to nature.

The North Manchester Nature Network project has been working with residents, volunteers and local community groups to plant over 20 different species of British wild flowers in local parks such as Boggart Hole Clough and Broadhurst Clough.

The species planted are all ones that can be found in other parts of Manchester and that, for one reason or another, seem to be missing from some of the other local parks.

By making sure each park has a good mixture of native wild flowers such as bluebell, red campion and yellow pimpernel, it helps create corridors for insects to travel from park to park.

Some insects such as bumblebees need a good diversity of flowers to find enough of their favourite food - nectar. But many more insects need different plants for their young, who feed on the leaves of the plant.

By helping bugs and minibeasts find their favourite food, they can move around the city more and so can their predators such as the blue tit and robin.

The North Manchester Nature Network, in partnership with Manchester City Council, has been working with the local Friends of groups to get these seedlings in the ground.

Celia Cropper from Friends of Broadhurst Clough had this to say:

“I enjoyed the planting sessions very much. It was good to be out in a green space with like minded people. I also liked the thought that what we planted should hopefully establish and be improving biodiversity for years to come.”

The Wildlife Trust is encouraging anyone who is interested in acting for local nature to get involved as there will be more wild flower planting sessions in the coming weeks.

The North Manchester Nature Network project is funded by the Cadent Foundation.

The project will be running more events in the future and has opportunities for local residents to volunteer and help local wildlife thrive. If you would like to get involved, please email project officer Russell Hedley rhedley@lancswt.org.uk. Or visit our web page: https://www.lancswt.org.uk/north-manchester-nature-network