MOWING DOWN

RELAX everyone – biodiversity is set to increase by reducing the amount of mowing in public spaces for the next few years and monitoring the resulting levels of wildlife.
Charnwood Borough Council is trialing leaving grass areas to grow uncut in 16 places over a period of three years to boost the numbers of invertebrates, insects and wildlife coexisting to enhance the environment.
The council’s green space development officer Jeremy Trill said different lengths of grass provide different habitats.
“We already try to provide different lengths of grass in different places to encourage on the one hand amenity; the ability to play football and have picnics but also for environmental sustainability,” said Mr Trill.
“The beauty of longer grass is it provides cover for a range of wildlife including reptiles and amphibians to build a food web with different potential food sources for foraging,” he said.
The uncut regions include Forest Road, Epinal Way, Maxwell Drive and several villages and are hoped to enhance symbiotic growth among wildflowers, invertebrates and insects including bees, birds and mammals.
Resulting research should indicate why some species seem more successful and how they can be further sustained.
A council spokesperson said the areas of the relaxed mowing trials are not parks or playing fields but open land under the council’s ownership.
“Our partner idverde currently mows each open space around ten times a year. This will be reduced to twice a year in 16 locations. The total area involved is about 21 acres, around 2% of the open spaces we manage.”
The council will continue to mow around the areas to prevent them becoming overgrown. The trials may be expanded and extended following the preliminary results.