What has nature ever done for us?
THE headlines are turning green with the likes of the School Strikes for Climate movement and Extinction Rebellion putting climate change and the ecological crises on the map.
With this mass movement to save the planet surging forward some people might be left asking “What has nature ever done for us?” and much like one of my favourite Monty Python sketches in The Life of Brian, it turns out we have quite a lot to thank nature for.
It’s getting hot and urban areas are likely to take the brunt of it.
Roads, pavements and buildings all absorb heat, a phenomenon known as the ‘Heat Island Effect,’ making our cities a few degrees warmer than the neighbouring rural areas.
In rising summer temperatures this means more cases of heat stroke and in extreme circumstances increased rates of mortality related to the climate in our urban areas.
Parks, gardens and trees all work to combat this by shading building surfaces, deflecting radiation from the sun and releasing moisture into the atmosphere.
Trees also help us to breathe easier by reducing air pollution and particulates which further aggravate respiratory diseases like asthma.
Don’t fancy a swim?
Green spaces in our cities can help you with that too.
Soaking up surplus water during times of heavy rainfall and helping to keep Manchester from resembling Venice every time it rains which Mancunians will know - is nearly all the time.
And how about simply feeling happier? Regular contact with nature has been scientifically proven to improve our mood, lessening the impacts of anxiety and depression and giving us a moment to take a step back from it all.
So there you have it, that’s four more great reasons to be thankful for nature in our cities and it seems a lot of you already agree.
More than 2,000 people responded to our recent My Wild City survey with an incredible 81 per cent of you telling us that wildlife in Manchester is extremely important to you.
When asked about some of your favourite wild places in Manchester, many of you gave answers like Heaton Park, Chorlton Water Park and the Fallowfield Loop; another popular response was your own garden.
‘My Back Yard,’ a piece of recent research conducted by Dr Gina Cavan at Manchester Metropolitan University, highlighted the importance of gardens as green space in
Manchester, contributing a fifth of the land cover in the city.
Our gardens have a vital role to play, connecting larger areas of green space such as parks and ultimately turning Manchester into a city-wide nature reserve.
At present, according to Gina’s research, only 49 per cent of our gardens are made of green space – lawns, flowers and trees.
The power is in all our hands to make our city a wilder place to live, work, visit and study.
Leave your lawn to grow long, consider planting a tree or some wild flowers, create your own pond or talk to your neighbour about creating a ‘hedgehog highway.’
● To support the work of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, text WILD09 with the amount you want to donate to 70070.