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| Cinnabar moth caterpillars on ragwort (Author’s own photo) |
Wildlife conservation and climate action are often considered as separate environmental issues, but thetwo are utterly intertwined. We know that combatting climate change helps save wildlife populations around the globe, but the reverse is also true: Wildlife conservation plays an essential role in regulating our climate. By saving wildlife, we help save the lives of many creatures living on our planet, including ourselves.
As I'm lucky enough to have a garden, this is where I can help wildlife. I can also donate to charities who are helping wildlife as I feel able and I would encourage you to consider doing so. Becoming a member of your local Wildlife Trust might be a good start if you can afford the small monthly donation. I have listed details of the Wildlife Trusts and several more wildlife and environmental charities on this page.
Insects and other invertebrates are at the bottom of the food change, so if we harm them we will cause harm higher up the food chain. If our garden is too tidy for bugs to find a home hedgehogs will be unable to find food or shelter in our garden and this ancient, native British wild animal is struggling for its survival. Insects and other invertebrates are the hedgehog’s main natural food source. A typical diet includes: beetles, earwigs, caterpillars, earthworms, millipedes and fly larvae.
Much of my garden was neglected as my parents became too old and ill to look after it. Unfortunately I haven't been entirely well recently, so I've struggled to take it all back under control so far, which means lots of rooms for insects, beetles and other bugs. I haven't seen a hedgehog yet, but I did see signs of hedgehog activity on my lawn earlier in the year, so I don't plan to make my garden all neat and tidy. I'm planning to leave some nettles and brambles at the edges and other areas some people might think untidy.
There's white clover growing in my lawn , a little bit of buttercup in a damper area and some black medic arrived recently. I've transplanted a small clump of little daisies from my last garden, and they still look healthy.
I believe there's room for me and nature in this garden.
As I've let my lawn grow long from May to July for the last two years, I've been rewarded by Meadow brown and Gatekeeper butterflies flying up as I walk through it on the mown path, as well as a few small Skippers and small creamy beige moths. Some caterpillars live on and in grass; it's their food and their home. It also helps that I don't use weedkillers, moss killer or any insecticides on my lawn anywhere in my garden, these can all be harmful to insects and very probably to anything which eats insects which have come into contact with garden chemicals.
Something I noticed when we stopped using chemicals in my last garden was the return of the songbirds which have a healthier diet in a chemical free garden. Butterflies and native bees will also be more abundant in wilder, chemical free garden and I have some of them too. As well as flowers to provide nectar and pollen our pollinators need undisturbed areas to breed. Some bumblebees use discarded mouse holes or birds nests.
Many caterpillars live on or near their favourite food plants to complete their lifecycle and emerge as beautiful moths or butterflies. Many caterpillars as specialists eating only one or two types of plant. This is why it's helpful to have as wide a range of native plants as possible in our gardens, from native trees, including fruit trees, bushes and hedging plants to native flowers and even plants like nettles. Several species of caterpillar feed on nettles, so getting rid of them all means fewer Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies. Perhaps leaving a decent sized clump of nettles is the reason I've seen all those butterflies in my garden, although not many of them. There are a lot fewer butterflies than there used to be, which is why we need to provide as many plants to feed caterpillars as we can. Apparently cutting your nettles back to encourage tender new growth just before the breeding seasons is likely to attract more of those butterflies to lay their eggs on your nettles.
I've been extremely pleased to find a clump of ragwort, in the neglected part of my garden, covered in the yellow and black striped caterpillars of the cinnabar moth. I've been leaving some ragwort plants to grow in my garden for years without noticing any of these jolly striped creatures. I have removed some ragwort as it has a lot of seed, which can grow almost anywhere. If you cut the flowers just before they start to seed that can reduce the number of plants popping up, or you can weed them out of everywhere except your designated wildlife corners. This is best done when they are still small. Ragwort is not normally a problem for horses or any wild animals. It is poisonous and that poison protects the Cinnabar moth caterpillars because it makes them taste unpleasant, just like the plant itself. The unpleasant taste means very few animals will eat ragwort. The Cinnabar moth is a rare exception.
If you want to know more about gardening for pollinators there's lots of helpful information on the Butterfly Conservation Trust website:
and on the Bumblebee Conservation Trust website:
If you don't have garden you could plant herbs or flowers in a window box or planter.
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