As part of its ongoing efforts to improve biodiversity across the region, Perth and Kinross Council has announced an extension of its Grassland Management Trials, following successes at 42 other sites.

These areas of longer grass will create space for nature and help attract bees, butterflies and other insect pollinators by letting the grass and native plants grow and flower.

Called 'Grow Wild for Perth and Kinross', the extended trial will allow the development of a long-term action plan to support the long grass approach on more sites across Perth and Kinross, potentially covering 1,700 of the 1,900 sites. Areas where the trials are taking place will be shown on our website.

Grass will be left to grow on steeper banks, around the margins and under groups of trees with a range of different management techniques trialled during the season.

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These will include "no mow" areas, as well as other areas where grass is cut at a higher height and less frequently to encourage wildflowers to grow.

Paths will be mown through these areas and around their edges to ensure people can still access and enjoy these spaces.

Grass will still be cut on areas such as sports pitches, formal and informal play areas, events spaces and paths for active recreation.

As part of the trial, the use of chemicals to mark out sports pitches will be stopped, with sports clubs and schools able to reline their pitches using marker dowels. There will also be a reduction in chemical use in other areas such as around trees and signs.

Communities will also be encouraged to manage greenspaces in different ways. This could include cutting and lifting grass, or identifying potential food growing spaces or areas where they can create nature corridors. Native trees and pollinators are being grown at Westbank Nursery which can be planted in these areas.

Councillor Richard Watters, convenor of Perth and Kinross Council's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee said: "As a council we committed to address the climate and biodiversity crisis in 2019.

"Previous trials have already shown that reducing grass cutting can help reduce carbon emissions and create more interesting, varied open spaces and lower maintenance costs.

"Critically, longer grass also increases biodiversity by creating habitats for birds, insects and small mammals that do not exist in regularly cut grass."