Pupils from Muirhouse Primary School, Motherwell have helped plant wildflowers at a new woodland nature trail in the Dalzell Estate.
The trail is aimed at primary school aged visitors to highlight the plants and wildlife that live there, including bluebells, orange-tip butterflies, nuthatches and pipistrelle bats. New interpretation boards are being installed to provide additional information on what visitors can see.
The pupils planted a variety of wildflowers including Ox-eye daisy, Ragged Robin, Cowslip, Self-heal, Common Vetch, and Primrose.
Acting Depute Head Teacher Fiona McMahon said: “The children had a great time learning about the nature at Dalzell Estate and helping to plant wildflowers. We’re looking forward to seeing them bloom later in the summer.”
The idea for wildflower planting came from suggestions by local people in a Participatory Budgeting project run by our Community Greenspace team in 2022.
Residents were invited to suggest projects that would improve, enhance, restore or increase wildlife habitats and greenspaces to help our local environments become more resilient to climate change, as well as creating more sustainable areas for local people to enjoy.
The Dalzell Estate project is one of the five winning projects voted by the public.
“Wildflowers provide a beautiful display during summer when they’re in full bloom, but they have an important role for local biodiversity in autumn and winter when the seeds provide food for birds and insects,” said Vicky Abernethy, Greenspace and Country Parks Manager.
They also provide nectar for bees and butterflies, the leaves are tasty food for caterpillars, the foliage is an ideal habitat for insects and, importantly, they absorb carbon dioxide so help reduce our carbon footprint.”
Participatory budgeting was introduced under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act to encourage more community participation and to direct resources to communities where it is most needed allowing communities to have a say in how public money is spent.
The Community Greenspace Participatory Budgeting project was funded by NatureScot’s Nature Recovery.
