Banff & Buchan Schools Creating Wildlife Habitats for Pollinators – Guest Blog

Read to learn how the Aberdeenshire Council Rangers and Banff and Buchan schools are collaborating and creating wildlife habitat networks for pollinators.

How it all began

In 2019, Aberdeenshire Council Environment Planners made me aware of Buglife‘s initiative, B-Lines. They thought it would be a good project for schools in Banff & Buchan as part of the Council’s Pollinator Action Plan. The concept is simple – create wildlife habitats, rich in native, pollinator-friendly wildflowers that will benefit bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Once completed, put a virtual pin in Buglife’s interactive B-Lines map, along with details of the habitat(s) created. The more individuals and communities that get involved, creating a network of wildlife habitats, linked together like a corridor stretching across the whole of the UK the greater the benefit to nature and to us.

It’s been well documented that the UK has lost over 97% of all flower-rich grasslands since the 1930s. This has had a devastating effect on not just pollinators, but other invertebrates, and in turn all wildlife. What is perhaps not so well known though, is that Banff & Buchan in particular has suffered the most. In 2012, Plantlife published a leaflet which looked at native wildflower losses in each county within the UK. Banffshire had the unfortunate title of being the worst affected out of them all. There are several reasons for this, which are explained in the leaflet. Our focus was on what could be done to start raising awareness of the situation. Plus make any changes needed, however small that might help to stop it from getting worse.

Children creating wildlife habitats

So last year, with funding available from Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, all the schools within Banff & Buchan were contacted. 12 of them noted an interest in taking part in the B-Lines initiative. I wanted the children to be involved in the process as much as possible. This is so they could take ownership of their areas and realise why creating these wildlife habitats was so important.

After speaking to our Greenspace Officers, it was decided that the ‘no-dig’ method would be best, using ‘Florafleece’. The fleece is 50m long and 2m wide, and is made from recycled, biodegradable fibres and acts as a weed suppressant. This is to stop the grass taking over the wildflowers before they’ve had a chance to get established. Compost was ordered from Keenan’s Recycling, who turn all the garden and food waste from Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City into compost. This proved to be a good discussion point with the classes to see that their food waste was being put to good use.

Three images showing groups of children working on prepping ground for wildlife meadows.

Children working together to prepare the ground for wildlife meadows – Jodie Rhodes

What’s been learnt along the way

It was mentioned in a previous blog that it takes a village to raise a meadow. This has certainly been true for this project. I could not have done it without all the help I received from fellow colleagues and other departments.

One of the biggest challenges faced was how to get the compost, which was loose, and the Florafleece, which came in rolls that were 2m long by 1m wide, delivered to each of the schools. Our Waste teams collected the compost (almost 50 tonnes). And our Landscape Services teams delivered the fleece and smaller quantities of compost to each of the schools, with most of the schools receiving at least one roll of fleece and at least 2½ tonnes of compost.

Once delivered, I arrived armed with a selection of spades, wheelbarrows and rakes. It was explained to the classes that the first task was to roll out and pin down the fleece. They were going to barrow and spread the compost over the fleece before sowing the native wildflower seed mixes, which had been ordered from Scotia Seeds. After one or two incredulous looks from some of the pupils and mutterings of ‘I don’t think so!’, all the children got stuck in! Almost every school had created a ‘mini meadow’ within a day or half a day, depending on the size of the wildflower area. Despite their initial misgivings, all the children really enjoyed mucking in and creating these wildlife habitats.

three images showing scything and raking of the wildlife meadows

Scything and raking in autumn to maintain the meadow – Jodie Rhodes

Where are we now

One year on, and the wildflower areas have largely been successful. Maintenance is key if they are to continue to develop and flourish. Again, this is something I want all the young people to be involved with. What often happens is the seeds are sown, the first year of flowers is amazing when all the annuals appear, and then nothing is done to look after the area. Due to this the ground becomes more nutrient-rich, and the grass eventually takes over again. This chokes out the more delicate perennial wildflowers, which require nutrient-poor soil.

We’ve spent the autumn term cutting back the wildflower gardens with the schools. On the smaller sites, the children used shears to cut back the vegetation; and on the larger sites, my colleague Doug Gooday and I used scythes. We chose to do this rather than strim the areas as it’s a much quieter and kinder method of cutting. It also allowed us to see and safely move any wildlife that was hiding in the vegetation.

At one school, the children spent more time carefully removing snails from the plants to a safer area than they spent cutting them back – albeit with a few shrieks and ‘eews’! Involving them in this way allowed them to see nature in a different light. Realising that the humble snail, rather than just being a garden pest, is a valuable part of the food chain. After a couple of weeks when the seeds had fallen through the cut vegetation into the ground, the schools raked off the cuttings.

Excited to see what’s next

Continuing this programme of maintenance each autumn will make the ground poorer in nutrient. This will make our little meadows a riot of native wildflowers and delicate grasses. All growing and flowering at different times throughout the season. It will provide a rich source of nectar and pollen for our pollinators, as well as a home for other wildlife. And somewhere for the children and local communities to see and experience nature at its very best.