Thousands of trees to be planted at Inshes District Park in Inverness as part of £200,000 Nature Rich Greenspace project to help tackle impact of climate change
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About 9000 native trees and shrubs are to be planted in an Inverness park in the coming weeks to help tackle the impacts of climate change.
The £200,000 Nature Rich Greenspace project is taking place at Inshes District Park.
It follows recent path work carried out in the phase three section of the site which saw the final link of the traffic-free route through the park completed.
The project has secured £139,000 through the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund which is managed by NatureScot and specifically encourages projects that restore wildlife and habitats on land and sea and address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
The NatureScot funding is supplemented with developer contributions, collected over several years from adjacent housing developments, along with a £10,500 contribution from Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme funded by the Scottish Government
A large proportion of the tree planting will take place on the upper slopes of the park's mid-section and will consist of native trees such as birch, field maple and oak.
There will also be landscape planting around the main entrance and the Stephenson Road edge, providing much-needed screening from traffic.
There will be some supplementary planting around the pond with species associated with wetland habitats to help improve the ecological diversity.
The recently completed phase three section of traffic-free path between Inshes Road and Milton of Leys will be enhanced by woodland restoration which concentrates around the lower levels of the site.
The existing birch woodland will be thinned for woodland management purposes.
The path project previously benefited from £277,000 from Sustrans as part of its Places for Everyone scheme.
Park regarded as important green space to connect with nature
The overall aim of the tree planting project will be to create a 'Nature Rich Greenspace' where wildlife can flourish.
With the spread of housing development in the Inshes area, the park is regarded as an important green space where neighbouring communities can connect with nature.
The trees will include varieties that support winter berries and will provide feeding opportunities for local wildlife.
Planting trees will help to switch to less intensive greenspace management as less mowing reduces energy costs and emissions. Biodegradable tree guards will be used as a way of reducing the use of plastic.
NatureScot head of biodiversity, Dr Katherine Leys, said the Nature Restoration Fund supported projects across Scotland to tackle the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, restore nature and improve the health and wellbeing of local communities.
"The Nature Rich Greenspaces project is an excellent example," she said.
"Native trees and shrubs will be planted to mitigate the effects of climate change, enhance the habitat for local wildlife, while creating a wonderful place for people to connect with nature. "We’re excited to see the positive difference this project will make to Inshes District Park."
Maelle Ducreux, infrastructure coordinator for Sustrans said: "We are pleased to be able to award funding to see the woodland restoration take place on the final phase of this traffic-free route.
"The completed route through Inshes park makes walking, wheeling and cycling far easier for those travelling between communities and accessing local bus services and amenities.
"The green space project will also provide opportunities to improve people’s health and general wellbeing."
Tree-planting project will help support green initiatives
Inverness South councillors are delighted the park will benefit from a high number of trees and shrubs being planted.
Cllr Ken Gowans said each of the phases provided a different user experience.
"Inshes Park is not only a fantastic amenity for everyone in Inverness South but it has also become a destination park for those from well beyond and for people of all ages and abilities," he said.
"My appreciation goes to the team at Highland Council who have worked hard to deliver all of the phases and to those in the community who have supported the project.
"Given the huge amount of housing development in east of Inverness, we are crying out for more sports and leisure facilities in the area in future.
"It is also important to involve local children wherever possible, there are some budding environmentalists in our primary schools.”
Cllr Carolyn Caddick, who is also an active member of the Inshes Park Community Association, said: "The woodland creation at Inshes Park is a great example of how a sustainable green space can be made that will help to support green initiatives and our environment's capacity to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
"I would like to thank the hard work the Inshes Park Community Association puts into raising funds, providing play areas and working closely with council officers to ensure the planting fits with the overall park development plan on behalf of the community."
Read more: Final phase of park completed
