AUGUST CLIMATE CHALLENGE: BIODIVERSITY IN THE GARDEN

By Megan Light
August 2020

At the Climate Just Collective, we are all about collective action, and coming together in doing your bit for the climate. For our first monthly climate challenge, we’re turning to the garden! Or any outside /accessible /balcony /window space you might have to create the biodiversity hotspot of your dreams! Having spent months in lockdown, people have turned to these spaces with a renewed sense of love and gratitude, and this needs to continue if we are to fight the climate crisis.

Here are three simple things you can do with your outside space to make it better for the world around you:

1. Plant for pollinators!

Pollinators (bees, moths, butterflies, hummingbirds, beetles etc.) are responsible for a third of the food on our plates, and are an incredibly diverse, yet threated, bunch. Three bumblebee species have become extinct in recent decades, and over the past 50 years, half the bee, butterfly, and moth species have declined (The Wildlife Trust).

Growing nectar-rich plants is one of the best ways to help the pollinators. Single-petal flowers are easiest for pollinators to reach, so plant flowers like lavender, beardtongue, fuchsias, and torch lilies. They’re easy to grow, beautiful & good for the planet!

2. Invest in a wormery!

Over 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste, and in developed countries, half of this comes from kitchen waste. The world has nearly one billion hungry people, and they could be fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK, and Europe (OLIO).

A wormery has so many benefits, and is such an easy way of converting kitchen waste to compost and liquid feed. Many of us don’t have access to food waste bins, or composting facilities, and wormeries are fast, efficient, and natural composters. They compost virtually any organic kitchen waste, such as tea leaves and coffee grounds, vegetable peelings, stale bread, hoover dust etc.

You can buy a wormery from around £30 online/in a good garden shop. They’re small and can fit easily on a balcony or smaller outside space.

3. Make you outside space a biodiversity habitat!

The easiest way you could do this is through a bird box, or insect hotel - all-time favourites for families and sustainably-inclined housemates. Leave piles of rocks, twigs, and rotting wood in your garden to create shelter for all sorts of important inspects, such as beetles and spiders. And put bird boxes in high, sheltered areas in your garden. Put out fat balls or nuts in the summer, and seeds in the winter to help this important part of your garden’s ecosystem. Also make sure your fence has some gaps at the bottom, so hedgehogs and frogs can move from plot to plot!





Try and do your best whatever your access to green spaces. For those without direct access, there are number of community farms around that will be well worth a look:

Hackney City Farm: for over 20 years, Hackney City Farm has been giving the local community the opportunity to experience farming in the city, and are dedicated to helping people learn about food, nature, and the environment.

Stirley Community Farm: The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust took over this abandoned farm in Huddersfield back in 2011, and have transformed it into a thriving wildlife habitat.

Visit https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk/find-csa/ to find a community farm near you (UK).

Kadoorie Farm, Hong Kong.

Kadoorie Farm, Hong Kong.

Cities and communities around the world are turning to community gardening. The Kadoorie Farm in Hong Kong is a perfect example of this, spreading over 148 hectares on the slopes of Hong Kong’s highest mountain, Tai Mo Shan. It was established in 1956 to provide agricultural aid to farmers in need of support, and is now an important mechanism in raising awareness of ecological and sustainability issues in Hong Kong and South China.

The RHS website has fabulous lists of the (UK) seasonal pollinator plants for year-round, biodiversity loving plants! Check it out here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/conservation-and-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators-garden-plants.pdf