Wildlife-friendly gardening: How are we doing?

The Wildlife Gardening Forum celebrates its 20th anniversary as the UK’s only charity devoted to wildlife gardening. A recent blog post by Steve Head (Founder of the Forum) identified some of the major steps forward for garden wildlife that have happened in the last two decades and also some of the challenges that have arisen or remain.  

Ten achievements in the last 20 years, and ten problems still to crack:
 
Achievements

1. Increased recognition of gardens for their wildlife. No longer seen as the poor cousin of the countryside, gardens are now recognised for their wildlife value.
2. Public affection for pollinators. At last, there is a widespread understanding of why having healthy populations of bees, hoverflies and the like really matters.
3. Plants for Bugs research. This RHS/Wildlife Gardening Forum research showed that there can still be value for wildlife in using non-native plants in the garden.
4. Reduced use of the terms ‘weed’ and ‘pest’. A welcome start of a re-boot of our attitude towards less appealing wildlife!
5. Wildlife-friendly Show Gardens. Wildlife-friendly and environmentally-aware gardens feature prominently at all the big shows such as Chelsea.
6. More public awareness. Celebrity gardeners, gardening programmes and magazines, and leading charities all actively help promote the topic.
7. More products to help people help wildlife. The shelves of garden centres and DIY stores are now well stocked with bee hotels, wildlife boxes, bird feeders etc.
8. The rise of the mini-meadow. No Mow May and readily available haymeadow seeds mean that long grass is in vogue in gardens everywhere.
9. Housebuilder initiatives. Swift Bricks, Hedgehog Highways, wildlife-friendly show gardens and more from some of the big builders.
10. National Garden Scheme welcomes wildlife friendly gardens. No longer just the preserve of manicured gardens, those for wildlife are now celebrated.

  
Problems to crack

1. Plastic grass. There is nothing good for wildlife in sealing gardens over with plastic.
2. Poor state of many new-build gardens. The tendency remains for blank squares of terrible soil, and little support for new homeowners in how to create a garden.
3. Continued decline in garden wildlife. Populations of many species of butterfly, moth, bee, and bird continue to struggle, despite the efforts of wildlife gardeners.
4. Garden makeovers that claim to be wildlife friendly but aren’t. Still too many that fill half the garden with concrete but cheer about what they have done ‘for wildlife’.
5. Continued infilling and greying over. The loss of garden greenspace is disastrous for wildlife, and for flooding.
6. Products that ignore the science. Birdboxes with predator perches; bee hotels that are too small, pollinator symbols on plants that aren’t fit for pollinators…and more.
7. Climate change. The speed of change could mean big changes for gardening, and for garden wildlife.
8. Pesticide use. Shelves are still stocked with products that are largely indiscriminate as to what insects they kill.
9. Gap in BNG. Gardens are poorly valued in Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) calculations, making them less likely to be retained or included in new developments.
10. Nature deficit. Various indices and research points to a greater disconnect from nature in our lives, with all the health and wellbeing impacts as a result.

  
Where are we heading?
I would like to think that, in the coming years, we will see gardens legally recognised as conservation assets and included in Biodiversity Net Gain calculations. It also would be great to see curbs to the concreting of gardens and use of plastic grass and garden lighting at night. We don't seek to prohibit them, but there must be mitigation for the damage they cause and surely the evidence shows us that the time has come for a big shift away from pesticides. Plus we need the 1.5 million new homes being planned to be designed in a way that helps homeowners to make their most of their space for wildlife.
Climate change will really begin to show its teeth. And it would be good to see even more recognition of the health benefits of gardens and their wildlife. Given that gardens and parks are the access to nature closest to home, this is a topic that we think will become ever more important in people’s lives.