Back in May I shared a story about the little park at the top of our road that has been undergoing quite the transformation. After decades of natural regeneration on top of a dumping ground, the site was a haven for birds, mammals and insects. But it was also overrun with invasive species and invited antisocial behaviour from the community.
The Conservation Volunteers have been hard at work sowing the seeds of their new project, and boy has nature has bounced back.
Let’s take a little reminder of what the site looked like once the diggers had finished up.
And this is what it looks like just twelve weeks later.
A meadow so rich and thriving that the volunteers have already had to cut back the more ambitious growing parts of it.
Now doesn’t this just fill you with joy?
A transformation from a wasteland to a pollinator paradise in just a few short months. Of course, humans have given it a nudge in the right direction, but for me this is a reminder of how ready nature is to dive into spaces and carve out a home for itself.
Volunteers conducting a bird survey recently even saw a kingfisher overlooking this pond.
There’s still a lot of work to do. The site managers want to get stuck into the paths to make it accessible, and build a bridge and a hide. I’m so excited to see what the place looks like next year after it’s had time to settle into things.
With the plants back, the bees and the butterflies will come back. Then the smaller birds will come back. Then the birds of prey and the mammals will come back. And this little slice of a wonderful ecosystem is just minutes from a residential area.
This is what all green spaces should be: full, wild, and open to the public. It’s completely possible to transform every street corner into a buzzing little paradise, and it’s exactly what we should be doing.
So let’s get to work.
Wonderful!