The project to restore the Govan Wetlands of Glasgow in Scotland, UK, submitted by BlueGreen is the winner of Pitch for the Grant 2022 and first recipient of EUR 10,000 provided by Danone.
BlueGreen a community interest company seeks to restore the Govan Wetlands into a thriving landscape that will boost biodiversity, show case natural systems and offer new job opportunities for the community while helping to make Glasgow a zero carbon city.
Working alongside the community, BlueGreen seeks to introduce the innovative practice of saline agriculture on a portion of this urban saltmarsh. They propose to grow salt tolerant crops such as halophytes, and other high value vegetables using only saline water, a practice becoming increasingly necessary due to the effects of climate change. Halophytes have incredible nutritional value, as well as having high carbon capture rates.
The Govan Wetlands in Glasgow is the latest project for BlueGreen, a community interest company transforming derelict urban landscapes into thriving ecosystems. BlueGreen has previously implemented similar landscape restoration projects for smallholder farmers in Malawi, Ghana, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Their vision is to continue restoring more wetland sites both nationally and internationally.
“We are thrilled to be receiving this grant as this is going to help scale up our work to restore more hectares in the Govan Wetlands and reverse the damage to this natural ecosystem previously used as a dock and shipyard,” said Chris Eccles, BlueGreen Director.
“The Govan wetlands project will benefit our communities, by returning the benefits which wetlands have to offer, such as increased green space, natural habitats for birds and mammals, carbon capture, and nature-based solutions to urban pollution,”