Wildlife in the Garden - Helping Wildlife in your Area

By studying the different types of animals and plants in and around your garden, and learning how they relate to one another, you will develop a much better understanding of what they need to survive. Obviously, the most important thing is to provide the best possible habitats. Having done that, you can boost these habitats in several ways, such as putting up nest boxes for birds and bats, and offering food and water to birds and hedgehogs.

It is interesting to try and guess where many of the creatures that visit your garden, but don’t actually live in it, come from. Perhaps from some local derelict, long-unused areas, present in most towns. These ‘wildlife oases’ are often under threat from misguided people who consider them as waste land and in need of being tidied up. Certainly any dangerous litter should be removed from such sites but they are, in the main, real paradises for nature.

In many areas there are groups, often formed by the County Wildlife Trusts, which study local wild spaces and keep in touch with local authorities, aiming to prevent possible destruction of these wildlife sites. They also offer advice to councils, perhaps pointing out that it is not a good idea to spray all the nettles and long grass in the area, and that the park need not be such a closely-mown ‘green desert’. Sometimes local schools become involved with these groups.

Helping your local wildlife really begins with you in your garden. Keeping a watchful eye on the welfare of your own nature reserve is not only an exciting project but also a real contribution to nature conservation.