E T H I C A L L I V I NG W I L D L I F E

Nature has been taking refuge in our towns and cities

Living Landscapes

Naturalist Stephen Moss believes that we will only get a countryside truly fit for wildlife – and fit for people – if we change our way of thinking

It is fashionable nowadays to regard the countryside as under threat, and for very good reason. Populations of many of our most familiar birds and butterflies are in freefall, intensive farming has turned much of lowland Britain into a wildlife-free zone, and the onward march of development – the inexorable urge to build new railway lines, roads and runways – threatens the little that is left.

Ironically, Nature is taking refuge in towns and cities, which are now home to a far wider range of wild creatures than most rural areas. Britain’s cities play host to everything from orchids to otters, water voles to deer, and even the peregrine – the fastest living creature on the planet. Many oncerural creatures, including a wide range of woodland and hedgerow birds, are now more common in urban gardens than in the surrounding countryside.

Another productive suite of habitats

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Resurgence & Ecologist

November/December 2012