The Ouse South Corridor runs from the Blue Bridge in the North to the Fulford Community Orchard (by the Designer Outlet) in the South, on both sides of the Ouse and includes Rowntree Park.
Rowntree Park
We work on two areas in Rowntree Park - a wetland area by the the Lovell Street entrance, and the wildlife area that's beside the field by Butcher Terrace.
The wetlands is home to frogs, toads, newts, butterflies, dragon and damsel flies, pollinators, and lots of different birds, as well as wetland plant species like purple loosestrife, greater birds-foot trefoil, water mint, ragged robin and flag iris. A kingfisher was spotted regularly in 2025 - fishing in the lake and then perching in the willow at the wetland end.
The wildlife area also has a pond which supports frogs, toads, newts, butterflies, dragon and damsel flies, pollinators and lots of different birds. There is a bee bank for mining bees and a rockery/hibernaculum for frogs and toads, as well as burrowing insects.
The more dense tree/scrub in the wildlife area encourages all sorts of birds, and there is a blackthorn copse as well as an orchard of apple trees. The huge area of brambles supports foxes and rabbits, and the wildflower meadow (dominated by meadow cranesbill) attracts a myriad of pollinators.
The Ouse North Corridor runs from the top end of Rawcliffe Ings down to the City Centre.
The River Foss Corridor includes the York St John Nature Area off Huntington Road, West Nooks Water Meadow and Willowbank Green.
York St John’s Nature Area
We manage the riverbanks here to encourage native wetland plants and wildflowers to grow. This includes leaving an unmown buffer along edge so water voles and other small mammals have essential vegetation cover and clearing invasive Himalayan balsam, which is currently outcompeting some of native wetland wildflowers and plants.
Along the riverbank, we're planting tansy plants along riverbank to encourage tansy beetles, and managing the scrub to ensure the bramble does not take over but there's always some scrubby habitat for nesting birds.
Notable species at York St John Nature Area are kingfisher, little egret and otter.
Sessions Nature Reserve
Here we coppice the hazel on rotation - mimicking how big herbivores would have naturally 'managed' our woodlands in the past - and are creating more diverse scrub habitat by introducing through thinning and planting (our aim is for willow tits to return!). We've opened up some areas - allowing more light in to the woodland, and left other parts to regenerate and create the understory layer.
Wildlife species at Sessions Nature Reserve include deer, foxes, otters, and a carpet of wild garlic on the woodland floor in the spring.
Willow Bank
At Willow Bank, we're also encouraging native wetland plants and wildflowers by managing the riverbanks. Leaving a buffer along the edge here is paying off, as we've found positive signs of water voles!
West Nooks Water Meadow
In addition to managing the riverbank for native wetland plants, wildflowers and small mammals, we're creating dead hedges and log piles to support invertebrates (dead wood is amazing habitat for insects!) and wildflower patches in some of the wilder areas of the water meadow.
Tang Hall and Osbaldwick Becks Corridors include St Nicks Local Nature Reserve and Hull Road Park.
St Nicks Local Nature Reserve
Along the becks at St Nicks, we have planted wetland plants and wildflowers to improve the banks - particularly those we know water voles like to eat (there are historic records of water voles at St Nicks). These include meadowsweet, gypsywort, purple loosestrife, reed canary grass and pendulous sedge.
(Both Osbaldwick beck and Tang Hall beck flow through part of St Nicks. Osbaldwick beck merges into Tang Hall beck in a culvert underground and Tang Hall beck then flows into the River Foss - connecting the Becks Corridor to the Foss Corridor.)
We manage the woodland habitat around the becks, coppicing and thinning where necessary and planting tree species that are happy with their feet wet. In the hope of encouraging willow tits to return, we're creating dense scrubby habitat (we also have historic records of willow tits on site from the late 90s). Trees here include willows, alders, downy birch, bird cherries and elders.
After many years, we've managed to get the Himalayan balsam under control on the stretch of Osbaldwick beck that runs through St Nicks, and the banks are scythed and cuttings raked off each year
We see kingfisher, little egret, foxes and (recently!) deer, as well as lots of signs of otters.
Hull Road Park
We've been restoring the beck habitat in Hull Road Park since the Environment Agency removed the weirs in 2020.
A new ‘natural bank’ - where soil was laid over the concreate and sown with wetland plants and wildflowers to stabilise it - is now be used for burrowing (we have video footage of water voles!). And we have re-meandered areas of the beck to improve the dynamics of the water and create microhabitats - in time, we should see a wider diversity of freshwater invertebrates and fish.
We have planted and sown a wide variety of wetland plants and wildflowers to restore the diverse plant community a riverbank would naturally have, and are further encouraging plant growth by trapping silt.
Every year, we scythe and rake the riverbanks, control Himalayan balsam, and manage the bulrush and willow. We're also diversifying the trees within the banks by planting species such as alder, downy birch, bird cherry and aspen.
Tuke Avenue Grassland
At Tuke Avenue Grassland, we're creating wildflower patches along the edges of the beck banks for pollinators, removing scrub to open up light levels and encourage instream vegetation, and leaving lots of scrub habitat for nesting birds.
Wolfe Avenue Woodland
At the woodland, we're planting species such as hawthorn, dogwood and rose to diversify the scrub habitat, and trees like elder and hazel to develop the woodland understory. We also regularly clear bramble, dig out the invasive snowberry and remove balsam.
Heworth Holme
The grassland at Hewworth Home has been planted with wetland wildflowers like fleabane, purple loosestrife and gypsywort, and we've installed scrapes in the meadow area to create offline pools for invertebrates and frogs (we get frogspawn every year), and a bee bank as a habitat for mining bees.
We've planted tree species including elder, bird cherry, downy birch and rose, and bulbs such as wild garlic and snow drops.
(Some areas along the banks are due to be reprofiled in 2026 as part of York Urban Beck Project - this will improve the bank structure as well as the plant diversity.)
Urban Green Corridors include North Street Gardens and the Floating Ecosystem.
Floating Ecosystem
The Floating Ecosystem sits on the River Ouse by North Street Gardens, in the heart of the City.
A home to dragonflies, orange tip butterflies and wagtails (to name just a few!) since October 2024, the ecosystem was created by Biometrix with the help of Aviva and Climate Action Funding. It is planted up with ragged robin, forget-me-nots, flag iris, purple loosestrife, marsh marigold, Mexican fleabane, greater pond sedge, greater tussock sedge and hard rush, and will encourage nesting birds once the plants are established.
