A network of habitats that support a range of animals and plants can be found in the park. To the south, the orchard and surrounding area is a great place to listen to birdsong or follow the flight of insects like marbled white butterflies. From here you can head into the woods and while looking up at the trees you may notice wooden bird boxes that were made by local families. Volunteers installed these boxes and those around the play area, as well as bat boxes near to the Pounds House area.
Meadows
You will find roughly 16 acres of meadow spread across the park, with the largest meadow sited on Mawson Field. This site and Meadow Field were created between 2012-2014 through 'Plymouth's Buzzing', a joint project between Buglife and us, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project involved local schools and communities in conserving bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects. Plant species like Vipers bugloss, field scabious and lesser knapweed can be found here. To find out more about other wildflower areas across the city, visit the Wildflower Page
The community have helped to plant 3500+ wildflower bulbs in the park, with over 2000 bluebells, primroses and crocuses planted in the Family Tree Field to provide an early source of nectar and pollen for our pollinators and a burst of colour for visitors to the park. Over 100 trees from 6 continents have been planted here by the Plymouth Tree Partnership since 2004, through a donation scheme and volunteers have also constructed reptile hibernacula along the edge of the field.
Trees
Historic hedgerows thriving with a variety of wildlife provide corridors through the park, while 1000s of trees including veteran trees and champion trees of Devon and England create a refuge within the city. In fact, the park has roughly 23 acres of woodland and it’s easy to forget you are in a city here. We continue to manage the parks tree stock with the support of the community and Plymouth Tree Partnership and since 2017 have planted 500+ hedgerow trees and over 100 young trees.
Surveys
Data collection and surveys are a great way to learn about wildlife and provide valuable information for conservation and management of the park. With the support of volunteers from the community and Plymouth University Environmental Society, we now know that the park supports most common bumblebee species, 35 birds species and 20 species of butterfly, including the white-letter hairstreak, which is scarce in Devon!