Seven Acre Park Greenspace Improvements

Seven Acre Park consists of two main sections – one accessed via Stanydykehead and the other via Netherbank View. The park has exceptional views over to Fife and many of Edinburgh landmarks including Edinburgh Castle, Arthur Seat, Blackford Observatory. It is a wonderful place to sit in the summer months or just to relax and take in the countryside feel the park provides in the middle of Edinburgh. The play area, which includes basketball nets, is very popular with local children and their parents. The park also has picnic tables, football goals and seats dotted about to take in the scenery. Most recent additions are the multi-gym and the new woodland trail.

ELGT has been making improvements to the park in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and the Friends of Seven Acre Park. This includes the creation of a wetland scrape in the northern corner of the park which is prone to flooding.

The project aims to enhance the biodiversity of the park and better manage the impact of flooding on the grass in this location. It will also involve the creation of a bee bank, wet meadow and marginal planting, and the creation of a hibernaculum located close to the wetland scrape.

For now, the scrape looks like a muddy hole. However, it has been sown with a seed mix of plants that are found in wet meadows and planted with wetland plants. Over time this area will green up and establish as its own wetland habitat.

We were joined by a fantastic team of volunteers from Friends of Seven Acre Park at the beginning of November 2024 to build the hibernaculum.

A hibernaculum is a habitat for invertebrates and small animals, with lots of gaps and spaces for them to shelter.