It was a beautiful sunny morning in May on the Isle of Iona. We woke up to the sound of Corncrakes rasping from the Iris beds, Skylarks in full song dancing vertically up to the heavens and Willow Warblers advertising their beautiful descending liquid notes.
We took a morning walk around the north of the island and managed to spot a male Hen Harrier ghosting over the nearby marsh, and also watched the Wheatears busy foraging around the grazed fields. By mid-morning, we made it to the famous Abbey. What a beautiful historic building set in such picturesque surroundings.
We began to admire the wild flowers growing within the walled boundary of the abbey. Cuckoo flowers with Orange-tip Butterflies dancing around them! This is the essential food plant for this beautiful and declining butterfly species. Linnets were on the meadow feeding their fledglings from the seed heads whist the grassland was also providing safe cover and refuge for the birds from predators. We then wondered if Historic Environment Scotland (HES) (who manage the abbey) were taking part in ‘No Mow May’ an initiative by PlantLife to encourage less or no cutting of lawns / green spaces during the month to help recover the biodiversity these habitats can hold.
We looked around and everyone had a smile on their face and were enjoying the peaceful and mindful surroundings. Furthermore, we saw a few people closing their eyes and appearing to get spiritual connections with the moment.
Suddenly, a man appeared with a 'sit on' grass cutter. We watched on and hoped that because it was managed by HES, it would at least have sensitive mowing regimes, perhaps cutting pathways through the flower rich areas.
For the next hour the soundscapes were no longer filled with birdsong, they were filled with the monumental racket of a tractor mower as we watched it cut nearly every blade of grass around the abbey grounds, decimating all the wild flowers / grassland along with the species that rely on it.
We looked around and people appeared less relaxed and nobody was closing their eyes and seeking spiritual connections any more! Most of the guests who visit Iona do so on a day trip, and travel from all over the world to visit this special place, so it would be unfortunate if your short visit to this iconic attraction was during this 'mowing massacre'!
We popped into the abbey visitor centre to chat to the staff and show our concerns. The staff informed us that there has been multiple complaints and concerns about the intensive mowing regimes from customers due to the noise disturbances and 'vandalism' to the flower rich areas.
Anyway, the months passed by and during that winter we received an email from NTS staff based in the south of Mull. It contained an attached document, which was a new management plan for the green space surrounding the Iona abbey. It included more sensitive mowing regimes, leaving flower rich zones and still providing access for people to enjoy the magical green areas.
I have to take my hat off to the HES for responding to customer concerns and also taking action in the midst of a climate and biodiversity crisis and let's hope that they take this approach onto other sites in Scotland and also inspire other owners / managers of public green spaces to take a similar approach.
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