LET OUR GARDENS LIVE! - A Manifesto for Gardens, People and Nature
The Wildlife Gardening Forum is a consortium of the UK's leading wildlife and horticultural organisations, from the private and public sectors. They have recently prepared a manifesto which highlights the importance of gardens, both for wildlife and for people's health and well-being. It is aimed at those who make and influence decisions and outlines some of the actions we need to take to protect gardens - and to help more people enjoy and support their wildlife garden.
Crazy Daisies fully supports and actively promotes the vision presented in this manifesto, which may be summarised as follows:
The vision for gardening and wildlife
We want more people to:
- discover how important gardens can be for wildlife
- find enjoyment, interest and health benefits from gardening with wildlife in mind
- use gardens to give children a richer environment for learning and play
- understand how they can adapt their gardening to provide valuable new habitats for wildlife
We want people to create more gardens that:
- are beautiful and peaceful places to enjoy
- contain habitats for wildlife complementing those in nearby gardens and green spaces
- form a green network to help protect us from flooding and overheating
- extend the resources available for wildlife in a changing global environment
We want to raise awareness of the environmental benefits of gardening with wildlife in mind by encouraging:
- the use of materials from sustainably managed sources, such as peat-free compost
- gardening techniques that help wildlife to adapt to climate change
- the home-growing of food in an environmentally-friendly way, for healthier living and to reduce food miles
- the avoidance of invasive plant species or products demonstrably damaging to wildlife
- less intensive garden management
- reduced use of concrete, paving and decking in gardens - surfaces that support little or no wildlife