Category: Improving habitats and access

Cumbernauld is incredibly green and most people live within walking distance of a park or nature reserve. However, these greenspaces are not always as accessible as they should be. Narrow walkways, uneven surfaces, tough gradients and overgrown vegetation can all cause issues for people using wheelchairs, bikes and buggies, and for people with other mobility issues or special requirements. Over…

Cumbernauld Living Landscape has worked with North Lanarkshire Council to restore raised peat bogs at some of the town’s key greenspaces. Peat bogs are one of the most important habitats on the planet, providing a range of benefits often described as “ecosystem services”. Despite forming over millennia, Britain has lost as much as 94% of its peatlands in the past…

We’ve been working with North Lanarkshire Council and Friends of Cumbernauld Community Park to enhance the greenspace for both people and wildlife. As part of our Nectar Networks projects, we have created a new wildflower meadow at the park, plus a meadow of unharvested oats. The wildflower meadow not only brings colour to the park in summer, it has also…

We’re working with North Lanarkshire Council to create a series of ‘Nectar Networks’ across Cumbernauld. Nectar Networks are managed areas of naturalised grassland, often featuring native wildflowers. They are wildlife havens, creating vital habitat for a great variety of bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. They can also develop into beautiful landscape features, especially when in full bloom. In these…

We have a number of invasive species in Cumbernauld, including Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, snowberry, rhododendron, and potentially, Spanish bluebell. The presence and spread of these species pose significant threats to the health and sustainability of our local wildlife, and coordinated action is needed to ensure we can achieve this. The Tackling the Invaders project included developing a strategy to…

Cumbernauld Living Landscape has been working with North Lanarkshire Council to improve woodlands in selected locations across the town. Although Cumbernauld is a very green place, many of its woodlands are densely populated with the kind of trees that don’t provide the best homes for wildlife. In some areas, the trees are also vulnerable to storm damage, risking harm to…