Nature

Nature

Walking & Surveys

Cowlairs is a place where nature thrives. Celebrating this has been a constant thread throughout the Sharing Cowlairs project As part of the project, a walking group was started. This brought together people to enjoy Cowlairs through creative and mindful activities, such as making collections of different plants and objects found there. The group explored ways to tune into Cowlairs through making sound maps, rubbings and shadow drawings.

Photos credits: Brian Hartley, Saffy Setohy, Glasgow Life

Wildlife at Cowlairs

People have spotted many different species of plants, birds, animals, birds and insects in Cowlairs. To help us learn more about this, Daisy Martinez, a scientist from Edinburgh University, did an ecological survey of Cowlairs. You can see some of the results below:

Rooted - People and Trees

Rooted celebrates the rich tree life of Cowlairs, and our relationship with it. Trees give us life, as well as joy. They feed & shelter other animals, protect our towns and cities from flood and drought. They improve air quality. We need trees! From late 2023-March 2024, Sharing Cowlairs delivered a project called ‘Rooted’, exploring the tree life in Cowlairs, and people’s relationship with it. This included a range of creative workshops, citizen science activities, and a tree-planting event. The project culminated in an exhibition in Possilpark Library. Containing images and objects made with children & adults in Possilpark, it drew connections between community, culture, language and nature.

Thanks to:

Participants:  Gemma Coyle, Bill Hunter, Mary Lam, JP McIver, Possilpark Parish Church (chair yoga group), St Teresa’s Primary school (Pupil Sustainability Committee and classes P5-7), Young People’s Futures.

Project partners and supporters: Boomerang Woodwork, Gillian Barrie at the Green Action Trust, Lorraine Conway and friends, Roisin Cross, Donna Kerr, Joe McManners, Lyndsay Waddell and colleagues at Possilpark Library and Adah Younger.

Forest School leader: Cameron Newell

Project coordinator: Roisin Cross

Photos: Brian Hartley, Margaret Kerr, Donna Kerr, Saffy Setohy

This activity was funded via Glasgow’s ‘Green Deal’. This fund is about supporting communities to engage with the transition to net-zero via issues such as climate justice and climate resilience. The 30 hectares of biodiverse land that makes up Cowlairs represents a significant potential environmental, social and cultural asset. Possilpark has been identified as a priority neighbourhood by the Clyde Climate Forest , a strategic tree-planting project responding to Glasgow’s climate targets and referenced in Glasgow’s Climate Action Plan and the Green Deal. The project aims to plant ‘10 trees for every person in Glasgow over the next decade’, is led by a network of environmental organisations, and approved by all eight of Glasgow and Clyde’s council leaders.