The Parkland Walk Local Nature Reserve 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 entirely with the approval of the relevant conservation officer. The Parkland Walk is a vital link between a number of other green spaces notably Highgate Wood, Queen’s Wood and Finsbury Park.
By and large, the Friends of Parkland Walk concentrate on the larger sections of the Walk that are owned by the borough of Haringey. Islington’s section between Vicarage Walk and Blythwood Road is managed by Nature Officers based at Gillespie Park Ecology Centre where they oversee their own team of volunteers who carry out regular conservation work.
Haringey’s management plan for the Parkland Walk seeks to retain the woodland nature of the site and 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 such as Ash and Sycamore, to introduce more native trees and to permit more light to penetrate the understory allowing for an increase in the number of species of flora and fauna. In many areas the canopy has become so dense that it has had a detrimental effect on habitats at ground level, greatly reducing the spread of wildflowers and insects.
However, 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 other than very basic infrastructure repairs. Parkland Walk (Haringey) has been without a Biodiversity Action Plan or Management Plan since 2018.
What little conservation work is done is carried out by Haringey TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) with occasional sessions run by the Friends. The Friends have one site which is managed on a weekly basis – The Wildlife Trail. This has developed into a conservation project exploring methods to increase insect populations and create conditions to enable a wide range of native flora.
Events on the Parkland Walk
If you wish to hold any event on the Parkland Walk you must get approval from the relevant authority. That said, please do let us know so we can you provide you with some helpful on the ground knowledge.