Growıng Greener
Professor Jeff Ollerton is a consulting scientist and writer, and visiting Professor at the University of Northampton
Support wildlife to boost diversity Our gardens, whether they’re tiny city yards or spacious rural retreats, have the power to reverse the decline in biodiversity, says Jeff Ollerton – all it takes is a few tiny changes
The wildlife that surrounds us has changed a great deal in the past 10,000 years. Much of that change is natural, as species come and go across the landscape, driven by unfathomable natural processes. Did you realise, for example, that the collared dove was virtually unknown here prior to the 1950s? Something prompted its population to expand from the eastern Mediterranean and across the rest of Europe, until now, when it is one of our most familiar garden birds. Recent changes to wildlife, including the loss of insects and the near-extinction of other birds, are however due mainly to human
pressures on the environment. There have been some success stories, including the reintroduction of the red kite and the chequered skipper butterfly, but the balance is still negative and we continue to lose biodiversity at an alarming rate. Why should this matter to gardeners? What does it have to do with us?
We all have an environmental impact, but that also means our actions can make a big difference
It matters for several reasons. All of us are part of the problem: we all have an impact on the environment, but that also means our actions can make a big difference. More fundamentally, our society relies on nature for our health and wellbeing, and for our economy, in very tangible ways. Some of the actions that gardeners may take for granted, such as using peat-based composts, bug sprays and herbicides, have direct and indirect impacts on wildlife. Although retailers are phasing it out, peat is still widely used in the horticultural trade. Much of this is imported from eastern Europe, where the destruction of peat
Greener facts L An estimated 70% of
insect ‘pests’ spend part of their lifecycle in the soil. Robins are attracted to gardeners at work because they know we’re likely to disturb the soil, allowing them to feed.
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GardenersWorld.com
July 2022
