Green Grid
Thanks to funding through the National Lottery Community funded YouCAN partnership, we are pleased to be supporting ambitions to protect and enhance Southampton's green corridors, ultimately with the aim to create a vibrant green grid across the city.
Celebrating Green corridors
Southampton is privileged to have eight official greenways running through the city, offering both rich habitats for wildlife as well as essential spaces for human residents to enjoy a range of health and wellness activities and active transport options. We are taking action to preserve and promote Southampton's network of green corridors, ensuring they thrive for generations to come.
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Through a combination of conservation efforts, community engagement, and sustainable development initiatives, we will be working with communities and groups to safeguarding these invaluable natural assets.
Guardians of the Greenways
We know that there are already so many individuals acting as guardians of their local greenways, whose efforts in care, conservation and preserving local knowledges often go unnoticed.
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Our Guardians of the Greenways project aims to find, connect with and celebrate these individuals, as well as providing invaluable opportunities to capture and share their local knowledges and experience for others to learn from.
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In the summer of 2024, we connected with Maria, a very active and engaged guardian of Shoreburs. In partnership with We Make Southampton Community Media, we hosted a group walk with Maria around Shoreburs. It was an invigorating afternoon exploring the greenways, listening to stories, connecting with others, and even writing poetry.
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Find out more about Maria and her work around Shoreburs in our blog.
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If you, or someone you know, might be a guardian of one of Southampton's greenways, we'd love to connect with you so please do get in touch.
Growing New Local Nature Reserves
A recent development of this area of work is to explore the possibilities for the development of new local nature reserves (LNRs) designations throughout the city. Currently, there are just three LNRs in Southampton, all of which are on the east side of the Itchen. We are exploring potential sites for new LNRs, and working to support local communities in the application process.
Join us
Would you like to see a greener, healthier and more connected city? Join us in working towards a green grid for Southampton. You can do this either by getting in touch about current volunteering opportunities with us, or stay in touch by signing up to our newsletter or via social media to make sure you hear about our upcoming activities and events.