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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/rewilding-the-uk-one-abandoned-lot-at-a-time>
"NORWICH, England—“A big thorn bush and a load of brick rubble,” says Sarah
Smith, recalling the pre-pandemic state of her printing company’s yard on the
outskirts of this medieval east England city.
A couple of years on, it has been transformed into a miniature mosaic of
wildflowers, grasses, lavender, and poppies. There are ponds, a rock garden, a
vegetable patch, herbs, and a little compost heap decomposing merrily in the
sun. Birdsong battles with the thrum of the refrigeration unit at the meat
wholesaler next door, bees stock up on nectar as they pass by the warehouses,
and field mice scurry through the chain link fence in search of shade, seeds,
and insects. It is messy and bursting with life.
This patch of converted wasteland may be only a few hundred square feet, but it
is part of a broad movement that aims to reconnect people with nature—and
repair some of the catastrophic biodiversity loss that has led to the
disappearance of nearly half of Britain’s wildlife and plant species since the
Industrial Revolution. Smith and her project are part of a rewilding campaign
run by WildEast, a nonprofit encouraging people to let 20 percent of whatever
they have grow wilder, whether by creating a pond for wildlife in the backyard,
letting churchyard grasses grow long, or turning acreage on private estates
back to nature."
Via Rodrigo Mesa, who wrote "Effing Brill, that." and Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
