St Margaret’s Allotments (Site G3.7) are part of the Emerald Network and we fully support its aims and objectives.
The Emerald Network comprises designated wildlife sites (such as Local Nature Reserves, Local Wildlife Sites, and Ancient Woodland Sites), key green sites (such as parks and gardens), and the River Wear and the riverbanks. The sites are connected by public rights of way or pavements. In some cases the existing PROW or pavement may skirt the site rather than provide access into the site.
The purpose of the Emerald Network is to encourage people (residents, visitors and tourists) to visit key wildlife sites in Our Neighbourhood for the leisure and health benefits they provide.
The benefits of the Emerald Network include:
1. improving the image of the City by proving an extra tourist attraction
2. providing a leisure asset for local people, and thus improving their well being
3. counteracting the fragmentation of wildlife habitat within the City: fragmentation has been shown to reduce plant and animals populations to levels where they risk becoming extinct
4. promoting and improving access rights and the Public Rights of Way network through the City
5. maintaining links with the wider countryside and seeking to improve wildlife corridors to designated sites such as the Deerness Valley, Bearpark and Croxdale Woods and Brasside/Low Newton wetlands