The Parkland Walk LNR is the responsibility of Haringey and Islington councils. Both councils have produced management plans for the care of the Walk. All our activities are carried out with reference to those plans and with the approval of the relevant conservation officer.
The Parkland Walk in Haringey
Haringey Parks department had its budget severely cut in 2008. Since then it has been unable to carry out any of the recommended targets outlined in its own management plan of 2009 other than very basic repairs to infrastructure and the removal of dead and dangerous trees. Haringey’s management plan for the Parkland Walk (2008 – 2018) seeks to retain the woodland nature of the site, but where it is reasonably possible, to increase areas of meadow and glades so as to provide a greater diversity of habitat. Within the wooded areas, there is also an intention to reduce the dominance of certain species, to introduce more varieties of species and to permit more light to penetrate the understory allowing for an increase in the number of species of flora and fauna. In some areas the canopy has become so dense that it has had some detrimental effect on habitats at ground level.
Haringey has committed to repairing a number of bridges along the Walk and in 2023 announced that this budget was to be increased to carry out path and access improvements. A consultation exercise is currently in progress. The Friends are supportive of efforts to make the Walk accessible to all but are concerned that this £13 million budget includes no commitments to invest in the ecology of the nature reserve and fears that even more damage to the nature reserve will result.
The Parkland Walk in Islington
Islington Council has a healthy volunteer group that operates under the guidance of Nature Officers based at Gillespie Park Ecology Centre.