When you think about your local park, you probably think about playgrounds and ballfields.

But now, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is starting to add more “natural” habitats and components to city parks. It’s a growing trend in the way park spaces are created.

At Bryn Mawr Meadows off Interstate 394 and Penn Avenue, in addition to the ball fields and playground, the board has dedicated six acres of the park to a natural habitat. It’s added two water-quality ponds, native plants that will eventually create a corridor through the park and planted 100 new trees. There’s also an off-road bike skills course and more than a mile of new, paved trail that weaves through it all.

Project Manager Tyler Pederson says these changes are part of an effort to be more environmentally friendly and also the result of feedback from park users.

“They’ll be able to see the insects and the birds. They’ll know it’s a habitat and not a sterile environment,” he said.

Similar changes could be coming to a park near you. More projects like Bryn Mawr Meadows are in the works at parks throughout Minneapolis.