Greenspace biodiversity
A greenspace is any area of land or water within or next to an urban area. This can include parks, playing fields, play areas, natural and wild areas, woodlands, food growing areas and cemeteries. They play an important part in improving the variety of plants and animals in Aberdeenshire and help strengthen communities.
Our greenspace project aims to provide a new approach to the creation and care of greenspaces through local community involvement. We are currently accepting applications to take part in our Growing Living Greenspaces initiative, where interested parties can receive saplings, bulbs and wildflower plugs to help with their projects. For more information view our Growing Living Greenspace page.
View managing our greenspaces for people and wildlife leaflet (PDF 473KB).
What we plan to do
The aim is to develop practical improvements within council owned greenspaces to help improve the variety of wildlife and reduce carbon output. This will likely lead to fewer well kept grassy areas but it will increase the number of natural spaces, trees planted, woodland areas and wildflower meadows. The main aim of the project is to develop sites which allow the community to decide what they want from greenspaces, what is realistic to introduce and manage long term.
The project covers the whole of Aberdeenshire, with demonstration projects in each individual area. The main projects will be located within and on the edge of settlements. We identified a number of council sites as possible options however any community promoted sites will also be fully considered. All sites that are being improved will be marked with poster signs (PDF 426KB).
Protecting the environment
The project takes into account a number of different approaches to protect and enhance the environment. This includes the third State of Scotland's Greenspace Report which says that greenspace covers 54% of Scotland's urban area.
Another approach taken into account is the climate change bill. The bill sets a target of a 90% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, Scotland is aiming to become one of the first countries to achieve a 100% reduction in carbon emissions. This project will help achieve this goal.
If you are interested in becoming involved with a project in your area, you can get in touch with the greenspace team:
- Email: greenspace@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
- Facebook: AberdeenshireGreenspace
- Twitter: GAberdeenshire