The lessons learned from the pilot, and during 2020 led to a successful bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Welsh Government for a grant that has enabled us to buy special ‘cut and collect’ machinery capable of cutting longer grass and removing the grass cuttings. This means we can manage our grassland mo
Nature Isn’t Neat is an approach that encourages us all to alter the way we manage grassland on our verges, open spaces and parks to benefit nature.
Grasslands in green spaces are allowed to grow in the spring and summer to create meadow areas and space for nature.
The Nature isn’t Neat project is now a part of the Gwent Green Grid, establishing joined-up green space management to create wildflower-rich pollinator habitats across Gwent local authority areas – Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, and Torfaen – as part of the Gwent Green Grid Partnership.
To get the latest updates, videos and resources, go to Monlife’s Nature isn’t Neat homepage.
Nature isn’t Neat in Monmouthshire
Nature isn’t Neat is a project that aims to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, the actions that we can all take to support them, and how these can have a positive impact on other important issues such as reducing the decline in other wildlife and mitigating the impacts of climate change. The project was initially piloted in Monmouth and funded through the Welsh Government Rural Communities fund under the LEADER measure of the Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 and has slowly been expanding to other areas of the county.
A key element part of the work of Nature Isn’t Neat has been changing the way the County Council manages its grassland on verges, open spaces and parks to create space for nature. We have been very encouraged by public support for the changes we have made to our grass mowing, and the appearance of many more wild flowers during the spring and summer of 2020.
The lessons learned from the pilot, and during 2020 led to a successful bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Welsh Government for a grant that has enabled us to buy special ‘cut and collect’ machinery capable of cutting longer grass and removing the grass cuttings. This means we can manage our grassland more effectively and where appropriate increase this type of management.
Contact
Documents
One of Nature Isn’t Neat pilot project objectives is to work with the grounds maintenance crews who manage open spaces and verges.
To do this we held a workshop with the crews to discuss what Nature Isn’t Neat aimed to do and how their working practices would be changing to improve the management of grassed areas.
- Nature Isn’t Neat Training Manual
- Welsh Government Action plan for pollinators
- Monmouth Pollinators and foodplants booklet
- Pollinator plants through the seasons: part 1
- Pollinator plants through the seasons: part 2
- Monmouth pollinator project pocket map
Thank you taking part and please send your comments and photos we would love to see them. And please spread the word about this project we need as many people as possible to help start making the changes.
