Friday, 29 August 2008
One of the best ways that we can help to conserve biodiversity is by gardening in a wildlife-friendly way. The open countryside is becoming increasingly hostile to many species, which are now moving into suburban areas for food and shelter. This includes not only our back gardens but also in combination with other green spaces such as school grounds. Individual gardens may be small, but collectively they produce a complex patchwork of habitat corridors which are ideal for many plants and animals.
You can make your garden more wildlife friendly in many ways, you don't have to make major changes to have some benefit. You can simply put out food and water for wild birds, erect nest boxes, or even create a wildlife pond or small meadow area. Making small changes to your garden can make a huge difference for so many creatures, and will hopefully give you a great sense of enjoyment as you learn about your new visitors.
The information pack below provides many ideas for how you can garden in a more wildlife-friendly way.
School grounds are often very large, and include open areas such as playing fields as well as courtyards and more formal garden areas. These areas may seem to be unfriendly to wildlife, but with a little action, it is possible to create a wildlife haven within sight of the classroom. Imagine being able to watch wild birds feeding from a classroom window, or many more creatures being encouraged into school grounds by a new meadow or woodland area.
More and more schools are being encouraged to attract wildlife into their grounds, and also to include studies of wild creatures in their lesson plans for subjects such as maths and sciences. You could download the wildlife gardening information pack above and include some of the ideas in developing your school's grounds.
You could plant a native hedgerow along the school's boundary, create a log pile for mini-beasts to live in, or brighten up the school with some nectar-rich flowers for butterflies and moths. Schools can apply for funding through a variety of organisations. The funding for neighbourhood wildlife areas page (under related links on the left side of this page) lists some organisations who might be able to provide funding for improving your school grounds for wildlife (as well as other community areas).
The Doncaster Biodiversity Transforming Your Space Project is Funded by the National Lottery through Big Lottery.
