Discover BlueGreen, the winner of the World Wetlands Day “Pitch for the Grant 2022” prize that rewards innovative projects for healthy wetlands.
Healthy wetlands are an important carbon sink, where carbon is stored and prevented from entering the atmosphere. Wetlands act as a natural barrier against Climate Change and can help local communities with climate mitigation and adaptation. The Wetland ecosystems also help in cleaning polluted water, recharging groundwater, and supporting the habitat of many plant, bird, and animal species. However, many of the global wetland ecosystems are also under threat from human activities and the presence of invasive species.
As part of its renewed partnership agreement with the Convention on Wetlands, Danone is supporting the adoption of best practices that conserve wetlands, by offering a EUR 10,000 prize to the winner.
Launched on 2 February 2022 (World Wetlands Day), Pitch for the Grant 2022 received over 140 project proposals from 54 countries, proposing a raft of ideas and actions key to wetland conservation and improving people’s livelihood and wellbeing.
The Govan Wetlands in Glasgow is the latest project for BlueGreen, a community interest company that is focusing its action on restoring degraded, contaminated, or derelict urban landscapes, transforming them into thriving ecosystems and community spaces.
This project is a response to the damage caused when the area was used as a dock and shipyard. Working alongside the community, the team at BlueGreen intends to develop an urban farm dedicated to salt-tolerant crops or halophytes, that have incredible nutritional value as well as high carbon capture rates. This project will also create new space for about 10 new sustainable businesses to operate on restored land. Further, the project will bring at least 14 new job opportunities for the preservation of wetlands, provide about 50 training workshops for locals per year and engage about 10 schools in sustainable activities.
The Govan Wetlands uses a scalable and replicable model which was previously implemented successfully in many parts across the globe such as Australia, Malawi, Ghana, Vietnam, and Bangladesh to manage stormwater, provide natural habitats and boost biodiversity in the local area.
“ Wetlands are an underserved but vital part of our planet’s ecosystem: the nexus between land and sea, where over 40% of the worlds species live and breed and must be protected at all costs. With these funds, we will be able to hire local staff, provide training, and buy materials for our collective effort to restore the wetlands. Following on from this we will now have the capacity to host public engagement events and workshops to hopefully educate and inspire people about the natural world around them” said Chris Eccles, BlueGreen Director.
