Page 30 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #11

Talking

point

the huge loss of London gardens, another
survey, this time by the British Trust for
Ornithology (BTO), found that the capital’s
house sparrow population fell by 60 per
cent between 1994 and 2004.
And yet, it’s almost accepted as the
new normal. Since writing my book, The
Bumblebee Flies Anyway, people have asked
me: “Why don’t you live in the countryside?”,
as if, as a nature lover, I should just accept
that our towns and cities are a lost cause for
wildlife. My response is always a slightly
blunt: “Why should I?”
Why shouldn’t we have wildlife in our
cities? It sets a dangerous precedent when
so many of us are happy to accept that we’ve
made our cities so unwelcoming to wildlife,
that it’s assumed a nature lover would want
to move to the countryside.
It would follow that it’s acceptable that
children growing up in the countryside
have wilder childhoods than those in urban
areas. That those in the countryside have
more access to green space and its many
interlinked benefits. More people live in cities
and their suburbs, and therefore more city
dwellers vote in general elections. Accepting
a dearth of wildlife in towns and cities isn’t
just depressing: it would have far-reaching – improves mental health and lowers stress. you, dear reader, probably have
consequences. Those who simply do not It can combat high blood pressure, as well a lovely wildlife garden. And yet
know the benefits of the natural world will as improve overall fitness. If there’s a single some nature lovers do see the natural world
never fight (or vote) to save it. reason not to have a garden (and, importantly, as something other than what’s outside
a garden for wildlife), I haven’t found it yet. their back door. Perhaps there’s room for
lso, it’s not just wildlife that More than ever, we need gardens in improvement in your garden and you, as a
benefits from gardens. RHS our towns and cities, yet overwhelmingly nature lover, are best placed to make changes.
research found that plants help we’re getting rid of them. What’s more,
mitigate the effects of climate as our population increases, new-build s a nation we need to accept,
A change. Their roots absorb developments bring our cities butting up indeed welcome, wildlife back
water, helping to prevent flooding and soil against the countryside, chipping away into our homes and gardens.
erosion. Their branches knit together to help at greenbelt, woodland and those little We need to relish bats in the
reduce the velocity of winds and their leaves anonymous patches of ‘edgeland’ where A roof, and sparrows, starlings
lower temperatures through respiration and we can walk, relax and play. and swifts under the eaves. That starts with
by providing shade. I can’t help but wonder By 2050, according to UN estimates, me and you. What could you do at home to
if that many Hyde Parks’ worth of gardens 66 per cent of the world population will be help wildlife? And, more importantly, how
hadn’t been lost since 1996, would London urban. If we accept that the town mouse can you inspire your neighbours?
have been so hot in the heatwave in summer? is less abundant than the country mouse, Paved gardens don’t have to be a wildlife
“Gardens play a crucial role in urban and then surely we’re accepting further, dramatic desert. Recently I judged the Wildlife
suburban areas,” says Helen Bostock, senior losses to our wildlife populations? Gardening category as part of ‘Brighton and
horticultural advisor at the RHS. “And they I’m all too aware that I’m writing this Hove in Bloom’. One garden I rated as being
will become even more important as our feature for a wildlife magazine, and that among the best for wildlife was actually paved
climate changes. But we know that more at the front. But you could barely tell it was
than five million front gardens have no “ The cumulative paved as it was so crammed with pots and
plants at all – which is bad news for wildlife water features that it looked like a regular
and the environment in general.” loss of a street’s garden. The owners proudly told me where
Green space boosts our mental and the hedgehogs sleep, tucked just under a
physical well-being, too. Numerous peer- worth of gardens large pot of lavender. “It’s the perfect place for
reviewed studies have shown that spending them to rest during the day,” they told me.
time outdoors – doing physical exercise, puts wildlife at risk.” Outside the nature-lovers’ ‘wildlife bubble’,
connecting with nature or nurturing plants among the wider public, there are more signs

30 BBC Wildlife November 2018