WILD THOUGHTS
Melissa Harrison
We’re all nature’s guardians
How did you first learn to look aſter nature? Moving to a flat with a garden did it for me. Not only was it the first bit of habitat I felt responsible for, but
it also meant that I could get a dog. Going out on twice-daily walks in all weathers, year aſter year, broadened my sense of custodianship to take in two urban parks and a common near my house; so as well as feeding my garden birds, planting pots up with nectar-rich species and fiting nestboxes, I found myself discovering which of my local parks’ netle patches always had the most small tortoiseshell caterpillars, where on the common the fox den was, and which hollow trees were hibernacula for bats. Before long, I found that if any of those green spaces had been threatened with development, I would have fought for them tooth and nail; not for the theoretical ‘ecosystem services’ they provided, but because I loved them and knew them, every inch. Cultivating a localised sense of custodianship
could prove key to preserving and connecting our threatened natural environment – and going by the way people have spoken up for nature recently, from protesting against anti-bird nets to protecting wildflower verges from being mown, I think it’s already happening, right across the UK. We all have a ‘home patch’ we care about, whether it’s a single street tree, a garden, park, village green or other open space. Geting to know what happens in it year-in, year-out not only grounds us in nature and the seasons in a way that’s proven to have deep
physical and psychological benefits, but also makes us more likely to step in and act when it’s threatened: when builders block off the eaves of our local supermarket so returning swallows can’t nest, or an avenue of much-loved trees is in danger of being felled. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the
A LITTLE BIT WILD
scale of the issues we’re dealing with, and helpless in the face of structures so large as to seem unassailable. But caring for a home patch is a win-win thing: not only can you achieve tangible results that benefit nature, but the sense of connection and fulfilment you can derive from protecting local habitats so they remain rich in life is huge. Imagine if, instead of waiting for someone or
something else to turn things around, we did it ourselves: an army of parents and park runners, nature fans and dog-walkers looking aſter our nearby ponds and hedgerows, verges and bramble thickets and scrappy litle woods. We’ve been taught to think that if we don’t own the land, we don’t own the problem. But a world rich in wildlife is everyone’s right –and everyone’s responsibility, too.
Show your support People taking action in the places closest to them is the foundation of
the grassroots movement that is The Wildlife Trusts. Join our campaign for a Wilder Future and help nature recover.
wildlifetrusts.org/wilder-future
Let them grow Nettles are an important food source for many moths and butterflies, and they make great fertiliser. Leave a patch to grow, if you can, then harvest it for compost just before it sets seed.
Melissa Harrison is a nature writer and novelist, and editor of the anthologies Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, produced in support of The Wildlife Trusts.
Cumbrian Wildlife | September 2019 13
ILLUSTRATION: JADE THEY, NETTLE: KATRINA MARTIN/2020VISION
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