Feature in BALI Landscape News Spring 2023 - Climate Action and Environmental Stability. Can the Landscape Industry Do More?
Climate change is happening, it is the defining environmental issue of our time, causing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity, destroying ecosystems and threatening human existence.
Addressing it is a collective responsibility not just amongst global leaders but collaboratively between communities, geographies and sectors. And the landscape industry has a vital role to play.
The Landscape Institute has long been a champion, leading the way on how climate and biodiversity sensitive landscape practices can contribute to delivering climate change action.
Increasingly, Blakedown Landscapes is collaborating with both clients and landscape architects to deliver sustainable landscape projects which are responsive to the environment, regenerative and contribute to healthy communities.
One such best practice example which adeptly showcases sustainability through landscape design is the renovation of Victoria Park and Watercress Fields for Ashford Borough Council. Allen Scott Landscape Architecture’s design not only unlocks the heritage of the site, but helps to reverse degradation, improve habitats and allow education and interaction opportunities.
The Ashford Green Corridor and the Great Stour River forms the Northern boundary to the site and adjacent Blakedown Landscapes has created a new seasonal wetland with reedbed planting and the use of native marginal species to create new habitats. A new pathway and viewing platform will improve and enhance access and provide both an amenity and a place for nature inspired educational interactions for children and adults alike.
Further ecological improvements will include bird and bat boxes, log piles, the formation of scrapes and an otter holt. Although still rare, there have been sightings of otters further along the river which flows through Victoria Park, and creation of an additional holt will encourage them to move downstream.
This is an important time for our industry which calls for transformative thinking and action and for real collaboration.
Victoria Park, Ashford - new seasonal wetland