Orkney’s grass verges are gradually being transformed. ‘Species on the Edge’ will create areas along our roadways and paths where a range of wild plants can flourish and become essential places for pollinating insects.
Working with the support of Orkney Islands Council which maintains the verges, the NatureScot/RSPB multi-organisational Species on the Edge project, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, will create, where there was once only short cut grass, a transformation into a biodiverse environment with a range of wildflower plant species.
Last week workers and volunteers were planting up a small area of grass land at Glaitness with:
- Red clover (Trifolium pratence)
- Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
- Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Pink Campion (Silene dioica)
- Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
all grown from seed collected in Orkney. They will support a range of wildlife – one of which is the endangered Great Yellow Bumblebee.
OIC support is important to ensure that the plants are not mown down in their peak flowering season, but all allowed to grow and flourish. The council will, however, continue to cut 5% of verges at junctions and near bends in the roads for road safety reasons.
Last week The Orkney News spoke to Helen Cromarty, Project Officer for Species on the Edge in Orkney as she was busy with her team planting in Kirkwall. Helen explained:
“We are very pleased to be working in Orkney with Orkney Islands Council, UHI Orkney, NHS Orkney, RSPB Scotland and many others across Orkney to create more vital wildflower areas and provide pollinators with vital food sources and connected habitats they currently lack.
“Most of this work takes place on the Orkney B-line, our partner Buglife’s B-lines project which is a series of insect pathways running through the UK, encouraging people to create and restore wildflower habitats along it.
” Thank you to all involved, from those who have provided advice to those that are helping us on the ground too.”
Click on this link to find out more about the project in Orkney : Species on the Edge
“Species on the Edge is a collaboration of eight conservation organisations, working with communities across Scotland’s coasts and islands to save our rarest and most vulnerable species from extinction.”
Fiona Grahame