Links with Nature

Links with Nature

Links with Nature is improving 12 greenspaces in the Coalfields area of Sunderland by working to make them more welcoming to both wildlife and local people. The project is inspiring interest in nature and the health benefits it provides by engaging with people who live nearby and creating opportunities to get involved. 

Thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Sunderland City Council, North East Community Forest, and Northumbrian Water's Bluespaces Programme, the £2.2 million project is delivering improvements to aid nature's recovery and offers free events, activities, and volunteering opportunities.  

The Links with Nature team are working, in collaboration with Sunderland City Council and Wear Rivers Trust, to revitalise local parks, waterways, woodlands, wetlands, meadows and wildlife sites. Ongoing improvement works are making greenspaces more attractive and welcoming by creating and maintaining these valuable habitats. Improving access to greenspace by installing and upgrading footpaths is enhancing people's ability to connect with nature. 

Support from North East Community Forest has enabled more than 6,000 trees to be planted within the project area, in addition to new hedgerows and bulb planting. Meadow and grassland management is being delivered with support from Springboard at Hetton Lyons Country Park and a conservation grazing programme, to improve the diversity of wildflowers and plants growing locally. New wetland habitat and instream improvements are being created by Wear Rivers Trust, who are also working to control invasive non-native plant species that are damaging to habitats and be dangerous to people and animals. 

The project offers free wellbeing programmes and guided walks, opportunities to maximise the health benefits from experiencing and making connections with nature. Practical conservation volunteering, nature-based activities, and bespoke events for community organisations are being provided to improve people's links with nature in the Coalfields. 

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