with family, friends and colleagues

Welcome to the latest edition of the Wildlife and Nature Reserves newsletter!

Volunteering

We are working on a new volunteer programme and are looking for projects which can be carried out?while ensuring your safety. Watch this space for more information! In the meantime, if you are out visiting our nature reserves, why not look out for some of the wildlife which is abundant during summer:

Swifts and swallows hunting over meadows and ponds
Butterflies darting between flowers
Dragonflies and damselflies laying eggs in ponds
Young birds who have left the nest and are learning to feed
Lots of different wildflowers in our nature reserves and parks

Future Parks Accelerator: What are Nottingham?s Priorities?

Nottingham will be concentrating on 4 key themes which will contribute to an ambitious 25 year strategy for the city?s parks and green spaces. These are:

Community engagement and empowerment?-?encouraging residents to be involved in how their parks are managed and developed
Volunteering ? An improved Volunteering programme with a wide range of volunteer opportunities and better support for volunteers of parks and open spaces
Sustainability and commercial opportunities ? ensuring parks and open spaces can secure income for their long-term maintenance and improvements
Setting up a charitable foundation to secure alternative sources of funding

Future Parks Accelerator: What is it all about?

The strategy will be written as part of the?Future Parks Accelerator programme (FPA). This is funded by The National Lottery Heritage fund and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and supported by the National Trust.

Nottingham is one of eight Local Authorities involved in the national project.

Visit the National Trust and Nottingham FPA?website for more information. You can also follow the team on Twitter @NottinghamFPA.

For regular updates, you can sign up to Stay Connected?with the Future Parks accelerator programme.

Why is this important?

Nottingham has a remarkable amount of accessible and award winning parks and green spaces that covers over 20% of the city, ranging from large historic parks and allotments, down to small local open spaces and everything in between.

Parks provide vital benefits and opportunities for people, communities and the environment. They encourage community cohesion, benefit wildlife, and promote mental and physical wellbeing. Almost without knowing it, these spaces are central to our everyday lives, whether that is through being a place where we can socialise with friends, enjoy local nature trails or take the dog for a walk and all for free!

With increasing budget pressures and difficult decisions being made, we now have to think of new ways in which we will fund and manage parks and green spaces for the future.

How people can help?

We want to ensure that we have an in-depth understanding of local needs and we want to ask those who use our parks and green spaces. Even if your normal routine does not include visiting a park, we want to hear from everyone. Please take 5 minutes to complete our survey: https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=158142595950

Carbon Neutral Action Plan 2020-2028

Nottingham has made the commitment to?become the first carbon neutral city in the country, reaching this target by 2028.?This means cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from direct and indirect sources that arise from the consumption of energy within the city to near zero.

There is a dedicated chapter on Ecology and Biodiversity, explaining how biodiversity and climate change are linked and what we can do to protect our environment.

You can view the Carbon Neutral Plan on the Council's website.

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