Aberdeen Nectar Networks

What did the project achieve?

Working closely with three partners: Aberdeen City Council, Robert Gordon University and Cove Woodland Trust, the goal of Aberdeen Nectar Networks was to enhance and restore habitat on their land. The project had aimed to create 8 hectares of habitat through a variety of methods, such as wildflower seed sowing and plug planting, nectar-rich bulb planting and the creation of bee banks for nesting mining bees, including the Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica), Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) and Gwynne’s Mining Bee (Andrena bicolor).

That target was exceeded, with 9.6 hectares of pollinator habitat being created or enhanced across seven sites. New nesting habitat for solitary bees were created using bee banks, as well as the installed bee posts and bee scrapes. Nectar-rich bulbs that were planted will provide essential food resources for native butterfly species too, such as Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Peacock (Aglais io) and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui). While the created/enhanced wildflower meadows will similarly provide food resources and additional shelter to other generalist pollinator species, like moths, hoverflies and beetles.

The project encouraged biological recorders to submit records of invertebrates from the Aberdeen B-Lines and Aberdeen Nectar Networks sites. This helps to improve our understanding of the distribution of key invertebrate groups within the city, and the impact of the habitat work. Not only that, enhancements on these sites will also benefit Aberdeen city residents by improving greenspaces and providing nature-rich areas to enjoy.

The sites for the project were: Robert Gordon University Campus, Cove Community Woodland, Bon Accord Terrace Gardens, Raeden Park, Danestone Country Park, Deeside Way and Abbotswell Road Greenspace.

Here is a full breakdown of what was delivered during the year in which this project ran:

• 9.6 hectares of pollinator habitat created and/or enhanced
• 3 landowners in Aberdeen City were provided with site-specific 10-year management plans
• 2 bee banks built
• 2 bee posts installed
• 3 bee scrapes created
• 11,000 nectar-rich bulbs planted
• 90kg of wildflower seeds sown
• 25kg of Yellow Rattle seeds sown (a further 5kg seeds donated)
• 190 plug plants planted

All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our volunteers! 57 volunteers respectively gave up 274 hours of their time towards the project.

Getting outside is beneficial for not only our physical, but mental wellbeing too. Aberdeen Nectar Networks volunteers provided feedback (21 responses), of which:

• 100% agreed they felt more connected to nature
• 90% agreed they felt happier
• 85% agreed they felt more relaxed
• 95% agreed they felt more positive

71% of these volunteers also stated they had never attended an activity or event run by Buglife before. Volunteers who participated in a pollinator habitat creation session, shared kind, hand-written comments:

“Being able to participate in something positive for our environment was something that will always remain with me. Leanna’s positivity and enthusiasm and knowledge was amazing!!”

“What I learned most was how under-utilised urban park spaces are. Our parks are mainly just mown lawn – much better than astroturf but still not even starting to address the need for action to address biodiversity loss & climate collapse. Our work yesterday taught me what huge potential there is to make much better use of the large acreage of public lawn space in our city with relatively straightforward measures. I look forwards to similar works being carried out on a large scale across Aberdeen”

“Enjoyable and interesting – I felt inspired to see what opportunities there are for habitat improvement in urban spaces. I learned more about botany, moths and butterflies.”

With continued management and care, the habitat created by Aberdeen Nectar Networks will further develop and support invertebrates in Aberdeen, including, but certainly not limited to, pollinators. These sites will provide nature-rich green spaces for local residents in the years to come, benefitting both their physical and mental wellbeing.

Can I still get involved?

Please consider recording invertebrates within the city, particularly on these B-Lines sites, and submit your records to the NBN Atlas and NESBReC.

You can also undertake FIT Counts on the sites, and submit your own wildflower projects to our B-Lines map to help expand our wildflower network across Aberdeen.