BANES has recently conducted an environmental survey of Alexandra Park.
Parks Project Manager Paul Pearce writes: The UK has lost around 90% of its wildlife-rich grassland since the Second World War and this has led to huge declines in bees, butterflies and other species.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is now helping to reverse this trend by introducing a network of new meadows across our parks and green spaces over the coming years. Alexandra Park has been identified as one of the locations for new meadows and you may have already noticed that some areas of grass are being left uncut, to encourage wild flowers and insect species.
Future years may see the planting of ‘wildlife-friendly’ shrubs, either by supplementing existing hedges or by creating new ‘island’ shrub beds. These would provide flowers and berries for insects and birds and nesting sites for songbirds; and there will be further discussions between the Friends group and the council in 2016 to explore this option more fully.