Can your community emulate Greening Steyning's biodiversity project?
Greening Steyning has set up a new Life on the Verge project to increase the diversity of plants and wildflowers in their community. Is this something that you would like to enable in your own local community?
Pollinating and plant-eating insects rely on plant diversity to survive, and they in turn support a host of bird and mammal species. By reducing how often the verges are cut to once, possibly twice, a year, and removing the cuttings when they are cut, Greening Steyning aim to increase the biodiversity in their local community by supporting wildflower growth and starting to limit the grass growth.
Visit the top of Shooting Fields in Steyning (by the Church) and the corner of Bramber roundabout at the bottom of Clays Hill to see their progress. It is early days but, in the end, they hope to have verges that bring wildflowers, butterflies and bees into the heart of their community.
Is this something you could encourage / support in your own local community? Greening Steyning are happy to discuss new verge projects in your area if you and your neighbours are interested. You can also get involved by writing to the county or parish councils to support similar activity in your area.
Click on the link below to watch Greening Steyning's short documentary film explaining the project.