The RSPB calls for everyone to join the wildlife-planting revolution - RSPB
- The RSPB is calling for everyone to join the wildlife-planting revolution as a new YouGov survey shows that three quarters of people are already trying to encourage wildlife to their garden.
- The survey, commissioned by the RSPB as part of their Nature on Your Doorstep campaign, also revealed that over two in five now consider pollinators when choosing what plants to grow in their garden, a quarter (24%) leave areas of grass to grow long for nature, and that nearly half of people feed birds (49%).
- UK gardens and balconies combined cover 4,000km2 (see note 1), an area more than twice the size of Greater London. Together these connected habitats could help reverse the fortunes of previously common garden species such as starlings, bumblebees, and hedgehogs.
The RSPB is calling for everyone to join the wildlife-planting revolution after a YouGov survey revealed that three quarters of people are now doing at least something in their garden or outside space to help wildlife (with 19% trying a lot, 30% trying a fair amount, and 26% trying a little). The survey, commissioned by the RSPB as part of their Nature on Your Doorstep campaign, also revealed the wide range of ways that people are already gardening with wildlife in mind - over two in five (43%) consider how a plant can benefit pollinators when choosing what to grow in their garden, just under a quarter (24%) leave areas of grass to grow long for nature, and nearly half of people feed birds (49%). With UK gardens and balconies covering over 4,000km2, twice the size of Greater London, all these actions put together create a vital network of refuges for wildlife (see note 1).
Many previously familiar garden species are in decline. Starling numbers have fallen by two-thirds in Britain since the mid-1970s, for example, with populations of half of our bumblebee species falling, and hedgehog numbers crashing from 30 million to an estimated one million since the 1950s across England, Wales, and Scotland.
Planting for wildlife in gardens and outdoor spaces presents a fantastic opportunity to help struggling wildlife and is also a hugely popular activity. When asked in the survey to choose what one thing they would most like to do in a new empty outdoor space, half of people (50%) chose having more plants (either having a wildflower meadow (most popular at 16%), or planting fruit trees (11%), other kinds of trees (6%), shrubs (7%), or space for more flowers (10%)).
The survey also showed the potential for even more people to take up action and welcome wildlife into their gardens. Two thirds of respondents want to see local birds (68%) and pollinators (64%) in their local space, two groups of species that are easily attracted by growing wildlife-friendly plants.
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Posted On: 14/04/2022