Welcome to Plymouth Natural Grid!
We are working with nature and people to combat climate change and biodiversity loss across the city.
The award winning team Plymouth Natural Grid will be continuing their work in the city, securing funding of £966,000 for a nature-based solutions (NbS) project. This is a partnership project between Plymouth City Council, National Trust and Natural England; creating, restoring and improving habitats with local communities across 8 nature reserves in Plymouth and South Devon to combat climate change.
The project will run between January 2023 and March 2024 consisting of National Trust Rangers, Plymouth City Council Officers and Apprentices.
Since 2021 our team has been enhancing biodiversity across Plymouth, engaging local communities and delivering employment and learning opportunities for young people. Through the nationwide Kickstart programme, we employed 15 young people as project assistants who were out of employment, education or training. The project won the award for best Kickstart program in the United Kingdom for Diversity and Inclusion.
Watch our 18 month celebration video on YouTube.
Read our Project report to learn more.
List of sites
- Budshead Wood
- Efford Marsh
- Ham Woods
- Newnham Meadows
- Radford Woods
- Seaton Valley
- Saltram NT
- Wembury NT
Map of sites
Aims
We address the biodiversity and climate crises across Plymouth's nature spaces and reserves by:
Creating resilient habitats
Creating, restoring and enhancing 99.7ha of habitat for climate mitigation using Nature-based solutions. We aim to enhance biodiversity, create thriving ecosystems that store more carbon and improve the resilience of nature to adapt to and reduce the impacts of climate change on our greenspaces and communities.
Empowering communities to take Climate Action
Creating a volunteer base to assist with the practical conservation delivery of the project and improvement of access on our project sites. We aim to deliver at least 250 hours of community volunteering across our sites, empowering communities to care for their greenspaces and take action in addressing climate change on a local scale.
Contributing to research
Through our work we aim to contribute to ongoing research into carbon sequestration and the benefits of nature-based solutions as an effective method of land management to reduce pressures from climate change. This will inform future works to implement successful conservation practices in other greenspaces.
Volunteer with us
Do you want to be part of climate action on a local scale? We are working with local communities to improve the access and health of your local greenspaces. To volunteer with us, find more information on our Plymouth Natural Grid volunteering page.
Our Approach
Nature-based solutions is an approach to land management using nature to combat societal and environmental challenges caused by climate change and biodiversity loss, benefiting both communities and the environment. Throughout the project the team will be enhancing nature to store more carbon. The process of biological carbon capturing is the removal of carbon emissions out of the atmosphere storing it in natural sources including soil, roots, trees or water sources.
Healthy ecosystems are havens for abundant biodiversity and carbon storage, while also protecting communities from climate change impacts; offering spaces for wellbeing and connection. The Plymouth Natural Grid NbS project will be doing biological carbon sequestering and storing across 8 sites through land management practices such as tree planting, flood management, pond creation and coppicing while improving access for all to enjoy these thriving greenspaces.
Follow us
On Instagram: plymouthnaturalgrid
On Facebook: Nature Plymouth
On LinkedIn: Plymouth Natural Grid
Or contact us at: plymouthnaturalgrid@plymouth.gov.uk
The programme is co-sponsored by BEIS and Defra; led by Natural England in partnership with the Environment Agency, RBG Kew and the Forestry Commission.
