the importance of YOUR garden

[Gill Catton]

In a way I agree - much of agriculture is moncultured green desert - lets make it short rotation willow coppice with a weed groundflora - biofuel and biodiversity all in one!

I also think that from my wanderings in that there London and other cities, it is clear to me that there are more birds about in areas with gardens than in the built up areas with tiny or non existant gardens. Now these may just be common species, but they are all the local people are going to see every day, without a proper trip out at the weekend it may be the only regular contact with wildlife.

Reduce the amount of wildlife in our cities and you reduce empathy or any kind of association with the wild environment. An urban garden may not support very much (especially if it has no native species) but a smaller garden will support even less and people are less inclined to sit out in a small garden and just absorb what's going on around them.

If people have no association with wildlife - if they no longer have the opportunity to notice 'their' orange tip butterfly or 'their' pair of blackbirds
or have moments like 'oh look what kind of dragonfly is that?' then discovering that there are many species and a curiosity is awakened

then this is surely to detriment of national wildlife as a whole.
Are they really going to care about butterflies or woodland or heathland or general biodiversity when they can't see the benefit of wildlife for themselves?

I don't know if I'm putting this accross properly I suppose what I'm trying to say is if you never see butterflies and develop an affection for them, why would you care if a species in the countryside goes extinct?

If you don't regularly see or notice wildlife and don't get that feel good factor from seeing it, why would you care if the newspapers tell you that the wildlife in the countryside is vanishing.

[svenrufus]

I don't disagree with you at all, Gill.

I sort of alluded to the points you expand on in your post when I said 'Make your garden a wildlife garden by all means (I have), it's a great thing to do, for personal enjoyment, education, creating a link to the natural world, and of course for the wildlife that uses it.' But looking back, I see I glossed over this bit a bit too much. It is important, no denying it, everything you say is true.

There is a balance to be sought though between preservation of gardens and conservation of wildlife. For my money that currently lies too strongly in favour of Gardens due to their being very much more visible. If new housing on greenfield sites brings with it ponds and native hedges and pockets of wildflower grassland, does this compensate for the draining of natural ponds, ancient hedgerows, unimproved grassland in the wider countryside as we intensify farming further to squeeze more out of the diminshing land available? Not for me.

Access to open space is a right for all, and in cities it is very difficult. Not everyone lives with a garden. People in Tower blocks need access to open spaces just as much as - if not more than - the owner of a 4 bed detached. If building over a few gardens allows us to preserve the diminishing open spaces in the countryside and relieves the pressure on the few parks etc in urban areas, I'm all for it - it is a much more egalitarian solution.

The uproar over building on gardens often comes from the well-off middle classes (of which I am one) - people well equipped to defend their own rights. Who stands up for the working classes in concrete-desert slum tenements to give them access to open spaces? Who stands up for the wildlife squeezed out as urban areas sprawl and merge. These things are all connected in my opinion. I try to see the things that aren't in front of me when deciding what to do or think about something. Gardens and their wildlife are in front of me, the rest of it is hidden, but still there, and must be considered.

[Hornbeam]

The point surely is that individually we can choose to make our gardens wildlife friendly or wildlife hostile. We can choose to garden without chemicals. We can choose to have a pond and to plant natives that birds bees and butterflies will apperciate - or not. We don't have to ask anyone else.

Collectively, we may also be able to influence town planners to provide wildlife corridors, and eco friendly open spaces. We might even be able to kick some sense into our local councillors, MPs and MEPs - who knows?

BUT please don't knock the individual who aims to convert the tiny little bit of land that they CAN manage for wildlife. We don't reckon to change the world. Its not like the nonsense we hear everyday about halting climate change by recycling carrier bags and switching off the TV. It's about personal choice and it can make a differeence. Think about how much land is gardened in Britain. Think about the bigger picture if blocks of gardens are managed for wildlife. The total area of land that is gardened must be much, much larger than all of the nature reserves put together. No one is suggesting that reserves, wilderness parks and organic farms are not also essential. Wildlife gardens are just one part of the whole - but the part that we can do as individuals.

[Gill Catton]

I'd rather sterile farmland was developed than gardens or urban parks - or even rather than diverse urban brownfield, with any ponds and hedgerows within the proposed development site retained and preserved within public open spaces and better ponds or wetland and native planting also included.

Originally Posted by svenrufus

I don't disagree with you at all, Gill.

I sort of alluded to the points you expand on in your post when I said 'Make your garden a wildlife garden by all means (I have), it's a great thing to do, for personal enjoyment, education, creating a link to the natural world, and of course for the wildlife that uses it.' But looking back, I see I glossed over this bit a bit too much. It is important, no denying it, everything you say is true.

There is a balance to be sought though between preservation of gardens and conservation of wildlife. For my money that currently lies too strongly in favour of Gardens due to their being very much more visible. If new housing on greenfield sites brings with it ponds and native hedges and pockets of wildflower grassland, does this compensate for the draining of natural ponds, ancient hedgerows, unimproved grassland in the wider countryside as we intensify farming further to squeeze more out of the diminshing land available? Not for me.

Access to open space is a right for all, and in cities it is very difficult. Not everyone lives with a garden. People in Tower blocks need access to open spaces just as much as - if not more than - the owner of a 4 bed detached. If building over a few gardens allows us to preserve the diminishing open spaces in the countryside and relieves the pressure on the few parks etc in urban areas, I'm all for it - it is a much more egalitarian solution.

The uproar over building on gardens often comes from the well-off middle classes (of which I am one) - people well equipped to defend their own rights. Who stands up for the working classes in concrete-desert slum tenements to give them access to open spaces? Who stands up for the wildlife squeezed out as urban areas sprawl and merge. These things are all connected in my opinion. I try to see the things that aren't in front of me when deciding what to do or think about something. Gardens and their wildlife are in front of me, the rest of it is hidden, but still there, and must be considered.

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by svenrufus

I'll take a slightly different line - partly as Devil's Advocate, partly as I really beleive this.

Yes if you have a garden, it can make a huge difference to the wildlife in the area if it is managed well. This is especially true for rural locations.

However, the vast majority of gardens are urban/sub-urban and while these being managed with wildlife in mind can never be a bad thing, I would take issue with the objections that people lodge against infill development in back gardens - I think it is better for wildlife overall and in the long term if this happens.

Firstly the chances are that the garden will not have been a wildlife haven to start with - I have done a few surveys recently on garden infills, and found naff all of note, except a bit of lawn and Spanish Bluebells (oversimplification, but you get my point). The range of species supported by urban gardens is typically small and common (with exceptions). The rare wildlife typically will not cohabit with man and needs specific factors in the open countryside to survive.

By building infill development rather than the alternative of allowing sprawl into the countryside, we may not actually do anything to save or promote the survival of the rare species directly, but if the greenfield site in the countryside has been lost to development, it precludes the opportunity of it ever being valuable for wildlife, a type of wildlife less likely to be found in urban areas.

Our intensive agriculture systems are the major threat to the UK's biodiversity, but if we want to move towards a less intensive localised agriculture in the future, one that is sensitive to the natural world, we are going to need to save all the land that we can, and building on it now to save a few gardens is not what we need.

Make your garden a wildlife garden by all means (I have), it's a great thing to do, for personal enjoyment, education, creating a link to the natural world, and of course for the wildlife that uses it. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that as you can see a lot of wildlife in it, that it is a haven that will save the UK's biodiversity. That is too parochial a view. That which we can see is not all that there is - that which we can't see is the most in need of help, and it ain't in your garden.

In fill building generally needs large tracts of land suitable for more than one dwelling to make it economically viable.The losses that gall me are the ones where something important Feeds not necessarily lives.It is quiet and secluded and contains remannants of very old hedgerow and/or ditto trees nobody has thought to put a preservation order
on these as it has always been there "and always will be"
Lots of people being unaware of the "parochial view" just have Hope that their effort may tip the balance and who is to say it will not.
Long may the people who give their love and kindness to an idea and a few "common" birds and animals ,they may be what is necessary to tip the balance in the favour of all wildlife in general with their small but generous offerings completing the necessary jig-saw

[nightshade]

You could always buttonhole your local MP and insist that there is a pond
and a large tract of land in every development in a suitable position to provide
a jig-saw link with neighbouring green corridors
You have the power

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by nightshade

You could always buttonhole your local MP and insist that there is a pond
and a large tract of land in every development in a suitable position to provide
a jig-saw link with neighbouring green corridors
You have the power

Most developments beyond a certain size have to have such things which is good (though ponds are usually shallow for H&S reasons. There is a legislative duty of care with regard to biodiversity to adhere to and the value of open space to quality of life is recognised.
We are currently looking into the possibility of working in local power generation too perhaps using local waste or solar plants or wind where possible.... early days though but some good ideas being bounded about hopefully such things will come to pass sooner rather than later.

Can but try!

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Most developments beyond a certain size have to have such things which is good (though ponds are usually shallow for H&S reasons. There is a legislative duty of care with regard to biodiversity to adhere to and the value of open space to quality of life is recognised.
We are currently looking into the possibility of working in local power generation too perhaps using local waste or solar plants or wind where possible.... early days though but some good ideas being bounded about hopefully such things will come to pass sooner rather than later.

Can but try!

Oh I forgot, the water from your new house roof should be held in a catchment tank