Islington Council

Our parks are the green lungs of Islington that not only provide pleasant open space to look at, but also sanctuaries for us all to enjoy. And by us all, we mean the abundance of wildlife that share these green spaces with us.

Islington is slowly changing the nature of its parks. Our sustainable planting initiative is moving us away from manicured shrub beds to pockets of wildlife meadows and more ground cover plants. This provides a wide variety that is attractive and still encourages wildlife to thrive.

Part of this quiet revolution involves re-using all the natural waste that is generated in the parks - making them more sustainable.

Our natural environment is already changing with the climate, there are new species moving in and native species are less able to survive. In Islington we are adapting the way we manage our parks to ensure that we are protecting the diverse range of wildlife.

We want you to appreciate the efforts being made, but better still, we want you to get involved in many of the projects now underway - we want you to do your bit.

Making our parks even greener

Islington has its is very own ecology centre - an education and visitors' centre providing a range of services to all the borough's schools, community groups, visitors and to local residents. Staff are on hand to offer advice on all aspects of 'green living', running events for the public and an education service for schools and colleges.

The centre, in Gillespie Park, N5 is set in nine acres of wildlife park and it organises around 200 events a year from wildlife identification skills to Indian head massage classes. It also manages the borough's three nature reserves. The centre organises a series of courses and workshops, focusing on 'green' issues from recycled woodwork, composting and willow weaving for gardeners to bike maintenance and careers in nature conservation. They can even help you design your own garden.

See the bottom of this page for the Ecology Centre's contact details.

Islington is changing our parks to allow nature to do a lot of the work. To achieve this, we are trying to strike the right balance between having traditional manicured parks and establishing areas of wildlife beauty.

These changes include establishing new wildflower meadows, increasing the use of ground cover planting and reducing the numbers of rose beds, therefore minimising areas of bare soil. The plants we use are also changing to those that will be of greater benefit to wildlife and require lower maintenance.

We are aiming to reduce our dependency on artificial chemicals for weed control, and have already introduced a number of 'chemical free' parks to the borough. The shredding of leaves directly onto shrub beds is now talking place, even Christmas trees are chipped and used as surfacing.

We are also looking to open a green waste recycling centre, where material from all the council's parks is taken to be turned into compost and then reused by the park's service.

Islington's plant nursery, which produces all the borough’s bedding plants, is progressively introducing a range of measures in order to make it one of the most sustainably run in the country. These measures include the use of peat free compost, biological pest control in all greenhouses, the use of self-decomposting pots and trials of new organic fertilisers.

Islington's wild side

In addition to improving the all round environment to help wildlife flourish, there are also a range of projects specifically designed to attract and keep Islington’s wildlife.

We have three nature reserves providing a safe environment for wildlife and much needed secluded green areas where you can all get away from the pressures of living in the capital.

Barnsbury Wood, just off Caledonian Road, is London’s smallest local nature reserve and provides a much needed secluded woodland area for wildlife.

Parkland Walk is a 4.5 mile green corridor running from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and providing excellent facilities for woodland walking and cycling.

Gillespie Park in Drayton Park consists of nine acres of meadow, woodland and ponds and is home to a wide variety of birds, animals and insects as well as Islington’s own ecology centre.

Islington Council has finalised a Bio-diversity Action Plan (BAP) for the borough. The BAP will help identify what we can all do to encourage wildlife in our backyards.

Pigeons in cities are associated with mess and disease. Recognising the need to control Islington's pigeon population artificial nests are being located on top of tall buildings on the City fringe to encourage peregrine falcons to nest in the area. The falcons prey on pigeons, providing an excellent form of natural 'pest' control.

These are just a few examples of the efforts we are going to protect and encourage wildlife in our borough. If you would like further details of these projects or want to get involved, contact:

The Ecology Centre
191 Drayton Park
London
N5 1PH,
Tel: 020 7354 5162
email: islingtonecologycentre@dsl.pipex.com