Introduction To Wildlife Gardening
Do you enjoy watching wildlife? Are you concerned at the loss of biodiversity? Do you want to encourage local wildlife?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then this introductory course may be of interest to you.
Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire are working with WildDerby, Derby West End Bowls Club and the University of Derby to highlight ways in which we can improve our gardens and open spaces for the benefit of wildlife and people. The course will be delivered by Andy Hollis of Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire. His position is funded through the Marks & Spencer's Legacy programme which aims to highlight the benefits our open spaces bring to local communities and the problems faced in managing these valuable areas.
Course dates at Derby West End Bowls Club:
• Introduction to Wildlife Gardening:
Sunday 22 April 2012, 1.30pm-4pm
• Wildlife Gardening and Open Space Improvements:
Sunday 13 May 2012, 9.30-12 noon
(in conjunction with the Morning Chorus event)
• Encouraging Wildlife:
Sunday in June TBC
Sessions will last approximately two and a half hours.
Come along and help us develop a plan to encourage wildlife at Derby West End Bowls Club. We will be looking at the existing garden and surrounding areas to find out how they can be improved. Learn skills and gain knowledge of the techniques involved which will help to encourage wildlife and improve the biological diversity of our gardens and open spaces. We are hoping to produce a management plan, planting guides and also identify the costs involved with planting native plant species. We will look at developing a range of features which will enable you to improve the wildlife potential of your own plot.
Our gardens represent a vast living landscape and with an estimated 16 million gardens in the UK, the way they are managed can make a big difference to wildlife. Hedgehogs, sparrows, song thrushes and stag beetles are all declining species in the UK, but if we manage our gardens sympathetically for wildlife, these creatures and many more will feel the benefits. Gardens are increasingly important spaces for wildlife as habitats in the wider countryside as shrink and fragment and climate change takes its toll.
"Although each garden on its own may be small, together they form a patchwork linking urban green spaces with nature reserves and the wider countryside" The Wildlife Trust.
For further information or to book a place on this course contact:
Andy Hollis, Community and Environment Project Officer, Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire, Tel: 01773 435232 or Jason Nichols, Community Relations Assistant, University of Derby, Email: j.nichols@derby.ac.uk
