Allowing tracts of land to return to the wild
Google ‘rewilding’ and you get almost 8.8 million results. It has become a bit of a buzzword in nature and for local authorities in recent years, as more and more hedgerows are left in their natural state and some areas of even the most urban parks are left unmown so that nature can develop and it can also find its own habitat.
World Rewilding Day is this month, but what exactly is it?
Nature heals itself and it falls into its own ebb and flow – that is if we let it.
Rewilding is the process where we stop interfering with a patch of land big or small and let nature take its course.
The natural habitat prevails and whatever patch of land is re- warded ends up without human intervention.
Anyone who has not mown their lawn for a few weeks will know that daisies and also dan- delions, moss and clovers can pop up given the chance and that rewilding is basically the process of no longer managing a piece of land and seeing what happens as the natural environment takes over.
Whether you have an expan- sive garden or just a windowsill, there’s plenty that you can do.
Firstly, look at what’s already there – what wildlife visits and what grows?
How many types of insects and bugs and butterflies do you see visiting?
Next, stop using fertilizers or pesticides.
Pick the patch you’re going to rewild, if it’s an area you used to mow, break up the soil just a little and sprinkle some wildflower seeds, the grass will still grow long but it’ll be interspersed with wild flowers which will attract insects and pollinators.
If it’s a window box, opt for wildflower seeds and maybe get a miniature compost bin and a worm farm if your budget will stretch to it.
Only grow what will thrive in your area, If you have a local allotment don’t be scared to ask someone there for advice or look on your local Facebook group and ask the question there.
Try and create a woodpile too, lots of insects and invertebrates lay their eggs in rotting wood so stack up a pile and wait and see what happens.
If you can, install some bird feeders and bird boxes; lots of balcony owners have bird boxes with great success.
Next, speak to neighbours, if they’re interested in rewilding a patch of their garden you can create wildlife corridors where small mammals and birds can move from one rewilded patch to another perhaps with a small little hole in the fence – a hedgehog motorway so to speak.
Finally, give it time, nature has an incredible capacity to heal itself, but it takes time and seasons for creatures great and small to move back into areas they’ve been absent from so don’t expect things to happen overnight.