Perdiswell Park
Perdiswell Park lies next to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and features Perdiswell Marsh. The park has had many lives: it was used as an RAF airfield during Second World War; was once home to Perdiswell Hall; and used as a refuse landfill site. Like many other parks in Worcester, it is now a multi-use space including sports pitches, golf course and walking trails.
There has been vigorous tree planting in place at Perdiswell Park over the past few years with the aim of creating 2.5 hectares of new native woodland. The many benefits of trees are widely shared, from cleaning the air and water to their role as key habitats for wildlife, but despite this, just 12.8% of land in England has tree cover. Planting, growing and nurturing trees in Worcester, like the initiative at Perdiswell Park, is a great first step in addressing the biodiversity crisis.
However, trees alone will not solve the crisis. We need to rethink our approach to messier, wilder sides of nature. Instead of looking to remove these thriving, vital species, we need to celebrate them. Weeds can be understood as plants whose virtues have been forgotten, wildflowers going by another name, with many species historically cultivated for human use. Nettles are essential for caterpillars; dandelions are key pollinators for early spring; bramble provides food and shelter throughout the whole year - in short, ‘weeds’ are biodiversity champions!
