St Machar Community Biodiversity Project wants kirkyards to embrace nature friendly management after being awarded 2nd place in National ‘Pollinator Friendly’ Award.
On Friday morning Steven Shaw, Environmental Manager for Aberdeen City Council represented Keep Scotland Beautiful by awarding the Naturescot prize to the community project based in Old Aberdeen.
This project started in 2020, alongside the £1.8m conservation works of the roof, stained-glass and 500 year old Heraldic Ceiling at St Machar’s Cathedral.
Education Officer, Katherine Williams explained that she and her colleague Phoenix Archer, Outreach Officer, started offering gardening sessions to the local community when indoor activities were restricted. The project gathered momentum with people wanting to be out in the fresh air, feel more connected with others and help the natural world.
A steering group of local people representing the Cathedral, Seaton Park and the Old Aberdeen Community Association work with the City Council’s maintenance team to devise a grass cutting scheme, reviewed annually, that would be both sustainable and beneficial to increase the biodiversity in the kirkyard. These means that some areas are still kept cut short and other areas are left longer, cut only once or twice a year, to create different habitats for different plants and creatures.
The group have also boosted the food supply available by planting low growing Thyme and early flowering bulbs such as crocus to help nourish pollinators. In the longer areas of grass, wildflowers such as Red campion, Ox-Eye Daisy and Bird’s Foot Trefoil, grown from local seed by John and Kate Malster from Curam Fyvie, were planted. A BioBlitz was led by North East Scotland Biological Records Society and over a hundred variety of plants recorded. This year the group aims to plant more wildflowers, put up nesting boxes and run educational workshops for all ages in the grounds.
The group hopes to encourage other kirkyards in the city and shire and inspire them to work with nature too. It can be just starting with a corner of grass left to grow longer or planting some native flowers. It all helps.
The gardening group meet monthly during the growing season and anyone wanting to join in is very welcome. No gardening knowledge is necessary just enthusiasm. Keep a look out on social media and the cathedral website for details of the next session. https://stmachar.com/bio.htm
For any enquiries please contact Katherine Williams, Education Officer: education@stmachar.com