Giving Nature a Home

I have often mentioned the need to ensure wildlife and human life live side by side rather than in competition. Having for example amphibians on our allotment helps us to keep down the bugs. That's good for our crops. Hedgerows and grass verges in the area full of flowes are great for our honey bees. Having hedgehogs around is useful for eating slugs and snails that would otherwise eat our lettuces and cauliflowers. So, when the RSPB sent me the following article for circulation, I was quite happy to publish it on the blog.

Giving Nature a Home


The RSPB needs your help to give nature a home.

Earlier this year a group of 25 conservation and research organisations published The State of Nature report, which painted a picture of how well our wildlife was doing. Sadly, the news was not good with six out of 10 plants and animals in the UK having declined over the past five decades. These include hedgehogs, garden butterflies, bees, sparrows and starlings.

But while the UK’s wildlife is not in the best of shape, the good news is we can all do our bit to help it thrive once again. As part of its Giving Nature a Home campaign, The RSPB has come up with a list of loads of different things you can do in your garden to help wildlife.

If you are feeling lazy, then why not give your mower a rest and leave an area of your lawn to grow wild. This will provide homes for lots of bugs and mini-beasts, which in turn are great food for birds. Making logs piles and growing flowering plants are also easy ways to attract insects like bees, while the more adventurous of you might want to dig a pond or build a home for swifts, house martins or bats.

To find out more about how you can give nature a home visit www.rspb.org.uk/homes or call 01484-868405 to request a free guide.