Supporting Our Urban Biodiversity – Katie Pattison

This week, our Local Government Officer Katie Pattison explores how we can live in harmony with our Urban biodiversity.

As a county we are under increasing pressure to supply housing and the associated infrastructure, but this does not mean that all is lost for our wildlife.  We need to combine our needs with that of nature, so we can both thrive in harmony.

Current urban environments tend to block species movement and fragment the landscape due to poor land management and lack of green (all the green areas) and blue (all the water-based areas) infrastructure. Providing nature with ‘stepping stones’ through these environments allows connectivity to strengthen.

There is so much opportunity in existing urban environments to patch up the landscape. This could be by having a better understanding of how to manage local green space.

Riverside Country Park, Medway – Photo by Katie Pattison

Here is a great example of providing community needs such as carparking and other amenities for urban greenspaces but surrounding it with nature to create those all-important ‘stepping stones’ through infrastructure. Here the volunteer group put in a huge amount of time and effort for wildlife and for community enjoyment, whilst also gaining physical and mental health benefits themselves in doing so.

Wildflower road verges – Photo by Matt Pitts/Plantlife

The road network in particular can create fragmented landscapes. One simple way to extend and strengthen wildlife passages is to utilise these existing corridors to benefit nature by allowing road verges to form wildflower strips with nature friendly cutting regimes.

Even the actions you take in your own garden can benefit your local wildlife. For example, use hedges over fences to define a boundary or create ‘hedgehog highways’ for wildlife to pass through. Create wildlife houses, log piles or install nest boxes. Avoid using artificial grass, paving stones, gravel and impermeable plastic layers and refrain from turning over your front garden into parking, the list goes on!

Creating urban environments rich in green and blue infrastructure, providing plenty of accessible walking routes and areas for community enjoyment and recreation plays a huge role in physical and mental health of these urban communities, not just benefitting nature.

It is important to allow the opportunity for residents of new developments to engage with the natural environment but also hugely important to allow species movement into, and through a site and being able to deliver this well. By doing this it also provides us with other environmental benefits and regulatory services, such as reduce air and noise pollution and aid surface water management, which in turn supports our health as well as the environment. It is also vital that through proper site design we alleviate pressure on more sensitive wildlife sites by providing alternative greenspace in the new local area.

Sparrow – photo by Louise Lawton

When you think of the wildlife in our urban environment, what species do you picture in it?

Is it a Hedgehog making its way next door through a gap in the hedge? The Jersey Tiger moth visiting the wildflower strip at the end of your road? Perhaps a House Sparrow hopping around the picnic bench in the park, maybe the Swifts nesting in a nearby roof? Or could it be the Common Pipistrelle bat swooping through the streets at night? Let us know which one you would choose to support the strategy as our Urban Flagship Species here.