Fife’s Buzzing is an exciting new partnership project between Buglife and Fife Council. Sixteen colourful wildflower meadows will be created in parks across Fife with the support and involvement of the local community and school children. Over £86,000 of funding was awarded last year by Heritage Lottery Fund and Fife Environment Trust for this three-year project to go ahead.
Wildflower meadows are beautiful natural areas as well as important habitats for wildlife. Since World War Two, over 3,000,000 hectares of flower-rich grassland have been lost in the UK. This has resulted in large declines in pollinators such as bumblebees, butterflies and hoverflies, and other invertebrates.
Fife Council is also committed to improving the quality of its greenspace for people’s enjoyment, health and wellbeing as well as for biodiversity. Fife’s Buzzing will help the council achieve this in a fun and engaging way. Scott Clelland, Fife Council’s Team Manager for parks in the Kirkcaldy area said “This project will enhance what we already have in the park. Biodiversity of habitats is an increasing priority for us all, and we will work with communities to make these areas a colourful and vibrant place to be”.
This spring, the focus will be on Ravenscraig Park along with six other sites at Guardbridge, Methil, Aberdour, Glenrothes and Dunfermline.
Ravenscraig Park is well-loved by locals and visitors. The park offers many attractions from play areas and football pitches to sea views and woodland walks. The new meadow will add further diversity as a colourful attraction with broad sweeping paths through it so all can enjoy the flowers, butterflies and bees.
“This project is very exciting to be involved in,” added Craig Balfour, Fife Council’s Area Officer for Ravenscraig Park, “and I look forward with great delight to the joy that this biodiverse feature is going to bring to so many people”.
Buglife – the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates – is particularly concerned with the decline in pollinators across Britain. It has joined forces with Fife Council to help reverse this trend through Fife’s Buzzing, which will engage with hundreds of people to transform areas of intensively managed amenity grassland into rich meadows that are buzzing with life.
Suzanne Bairner, Buglife’s Conservation Officer for Scotland said: “We are thrilled to have received funding for this exciting project which will involve and benefit so many communities in Fife in the creation of stunning, rich new habitats for wildlife.”
