Unused scraps of land across Dumfries and Galloway are being repurposed to support nature and benefit local communities.
Over 300,000 m2 of local authority land is earmarked for nature enhancement under a new project implemented by a local organisation, Solas for Nature. Following initial investment from Dumfries and Galloway Council and NatureScot, the not-for-profit social enterprise is now seeking funding from local businesses and communities to help deliver the proposals.
The two-year ‘Plants and Pollinators’ project aims to create ‘stepping stones’ of nature-rich land in towns and villages across D&G, helping with the movement of wildlife, insects and pollinators between habitats.
The case for targeting small-scale areas of land is strong. Indeed, both the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy1 and the Scottish Land Commission highlight a need to bring currently derelict or neglected land into nature-beneficial use to help tackle the nature emergency. With several large-scale rewilding and nature restoration projects happening across Scotland and Nature Networks being driven through the planning system, it is vital that there are smaller ‘pit stops’ created to help species access the food and space they need to thrive.
The scraps, usually no bigger than a tennis court, are usually too small to attract other uses. Without Solas for Nature’s intervention, these scraps won’t reach their full biodiversity potential and help Scotland become nature-positive.
Initial on-site research, funded by a grant from the Scottish Government’s National Restoration Fund through NatureScot and carried out by local firm Solway Ecology, generated evidence of the limited range of plant species in grassland and woodland, poor soil health, and limited numbers of bird, mammal, amphibian and invertebrate species. This indicates that biodiversity could be significantly improved through small interventions including wildflower seeds, native trees and shrubs, rock piles and hedgerows.
The local community is set to benefit too. Bringing nature into town centres and boosting biodiversity on scraps of land provides high-quality green spaces for health and recreation, and delivers multiple additional benefits to society, including better air and water quality and flood management and helps to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss
Solas for Nature co-founder and director, Vicky Junik, said: Helping nature flourish on a large scale can often feel like it’s too big a problem to fix. But we are breaking it down and focusing on the wee guys. We’re restoring small scraps of land that are otherwise left derelict to create little rest stops for pollinators as they go about their vital work for humans and nature. We’re calling on the generosity of local nature lovers to give what they can and be part of our movement to help nature flourish one small scrap at a time.
Donations are invited from businesses, communities and nature lovers across the country to help fund the project through a dedicated crowdfunding page: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/solas-for-nature.
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