Provision of labour

Students and teachers of the Faculty of Biology at St. Kliment Ohridski University created a habitat for birds, invertebrate species, and plants. The project aimed to popularise easy steps for increasing biodiversity in urban green spaces and effective practices for preserving it. The created habitat also aims to develop and solidify the biological and conservation knowledge of pupils, university students, and the citizens of Sofia, and to help restore the vanishing bondage between contemporary society and nature. Activities have included planting grasses and shrubs by volunteers, placing bird houses, and educational events. (Ref. 1). For the purposes of "Starling on the doorstep" volunteers among students and teachers of the Faculty of Biology began to develop some of the green spaces in front of the building by enriching the surrounding vegetation, and with it the diversity of animals. It was important for them that the transformation took place right in the yard of the faculty, where the future biologists are trained - the people called to take competent care of nature conservation. The idea for the initiative was warmly accepted by both the dean's management of the faculty and the ecology expert from the Municipality of Lozenets, on whose territory the school is located. (Ref 3)

The project has the goal to promote volunteering related to environmental protection. The community-based initiative involves disabled people to implement the intervention - with the supervision of specific tutors - to prove that they can be an active part of the population. Activities included taking care of several green areas and implementation of social horticulture gardens. (Ref.1.)

Following the Reading Growallot scheme, a derelict land area in Florian Gardens, Southcote was transformed into an allotment site. The scheme is part of Food 4 Families which is a community allotment project. One in four residents in Southcote live in flats with no garden to enjoy; local families have therefore transformed the land into a thriving allotment, growing fresh, healthy fruit and vegetables. This means that Southcote GrowAllot gives residents the chance to start growing food together. (Ref. 1, 3)

View Island in Reading is a relaxing island with natural open space with grassy paths and seating near to the weir at Caversham Lock. A conservation project has been carried out to e.g. improve water flow, improve biodiversity, and improve the entrance to and around the island. The work has been carried out in consultation with Reading Borough Council, the Environment Agency and has been designed and constructed by Riverworks Ltd. (Ref, 1, 2, 3)

A communal bio-garden was created by a group of citizens in Sofia in 2014 on a municipal piece of land. The creation of the garden was supported by the Municipality through their programme “Green Sofia”. The aim of the project was to turn an abandoned and degraded green area into an “island of biodiversity” and a place for urban gardening. The garden contains herbs, vegetables, and flowers, dwelling places for useful insects, and a compost bin. The benefits of the garden have been ecological, educational, and social, including refugee integration. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 4) According to their Facebook group in 2020, the 4 acre garden and the community that has organised around it is still thriving. (Ref 10)

In 1958 the former marsh "Hellmansbruch", a botanical and zoological jewel, was drained to build the motorway junction Wuppertal North. Since 1990, the working group Nature and Environmental protection (ANU) which consists of volunteers, has maintained a protected landscape area of 3 ha (remains of the former marsh) with the regionally highest density of moorland spotted orchid in the middle of the transport junction. Based on continuous mostly manual maintenance work, such as cutting back encroaching bushes, the large orchid population could be protected and the green space area in total even increased, becoming a biodiversity hotspot. (Ref. 3 and 7). The project also includes the protection of endangered flora and fauna native to the area, including endangered amphibians. (Ref. 7) Guided tours are also offered to visitors of the "nature paradise" in order to raise awareness about indigenous and threatened nature. (Ref. 3).

The NBS was inspired by the first social garden created by citizens on Chrobrego Street. Later, the municipality provided funds for 4 additional projects. Social gardens were created in the housing estates of Wyżyny, Okole, Jary and Wilczak. Residents planted new bushes, flowers, trees, grass, and perennials, and arranged the existing nature in their pocket gardens. In some cases, they also established 'hotels' for insects and pollinators or created thematic paths. Common efforts are to grow healthy plants, herb and vegetable, and to create a friendly atmosphere in the gardens. The gardens are small, 100 square meters on average [1,4].

The urban gardening project is a strategic employment and qualification measure which accommodates 14 long-term unemployed people guided and advised by 4 part-time employees of the Wuppertal District Service, consisting of a professional gardener, an instructor, a social education worker and a project manager. Coordinated with the Forestry Department of Wuppertal and the City of Wuppertal and in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, the participants of the programme plant and harvest vegetables and herbs in 19 high-raised flower beds on decentralized public and private spaces across the Ostersbaum district. The harvest is distributed to and shared by all residents. (Ref. 3) A further goal of the intervention is to increase cultivated green spaces and streets in the city district of Ostersbaum and thus to enhance the quality of life in the district. In 2017, the project was extended with an opportunity for beekeeping. (Ref. 8) Apart from its main goal of providing employment and assistance to unemployed people, the leaders of the project also offer educational opportunities for children and students, through educating them about the cycle of food production and creating an understanding of the origin of food. (Ref. 1)

Since introducing the Tree Strategy, the Reading Council has working closely with partners and local people to promote the importance and benefit of trees. Work has included a (street) tree planting scheme. Reading has a committed Tree Warden Network (which has the objectives to e.g. engage the community and raise awareness of trees in neighbourhoods). (Ref. 1, 2)

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) 'Water Vole Recovery Project' is working in partnership with the Environment Agency, the Canal & River Trust and Thames Water to monitor water voles. Water voles have undergone one of the most serious declines of any wild mammal in Britain during the 20th century. The intensification of agriculture in the 1940s and 1950s caused the loss and degradation of habitat, but the most rapid period of decline was during the 1980s and 1990s as American mink spread. Between 1989 and 1998, the population fell by almost 90 percent! The above project also is identifying habitat enhancement opportunities and influencing local landowners to manage sites sympathetically for water voles and implement mink control. (Ref. 1)