Urban gardens – wildlife havens in the middle of our towns!

IF you live in Carmarthen or Llanelli look out for a leaflet coming through your door that asks for help to find out what wildlife lives in your garden.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and Carmarthenshire County Council have teamed together to find out about the wildlife that lives in our urban gardens.

The Carmarthenshire Urban Garden Wildlife Survey aims to discover all about the hidden wildlife in Carmarthenshire’s two largest towns.

Gardens provide a refuge for a huge variety of wildlife. In our towns, a large proportion of available wildlife habitat is provided by gardens, which are the ‘green lungs’ of our urban areas. Gardens and allotments can also be important wildlife corridors in a built up area. Over recent years gardens have become increasingly important habitats for wildlife, including for many species now rare in the wider countryside.

Some species found in our gardens can help us out – hedgehogs are natural slug control, ladybirds prey on aphids, worms improve our soil and bees and flies help pollinate our fruit, vegetables and flowers.

Some gardening practices however may be harmful for wildlife. Over use of pesticides and fertilisers, over-tidying of gardens, drainage of ponds and use of peat can all have a harmful effect. However, taking simple action means that we can all garden in a wildlife-friendly way.

Avoiding chemical fertilisers, using peat alternatives, providing food, shelter and water for birds and planting some native species in borders are all ways in which we can help wildlife in our gardens.

Council biodiversity officer Isabel Macho said: “Increasingly we are realising how important gardens in towns are, even the smallest gardens can host a range of wildlife. All the gardens together within a town can be a significant habitat resource for nature. Every garden is different so can help a variety of birds, mammals and insects.”

Lizzie Wilberforce, from conservation management at the Wildlife Trust, said: “Why not give wildlife in Carmarthenshire a helping hand by pledging to do something positive for wildlife in your garden. Simple, easy to do things really can have a big benefit for wildlife. And if we all did just one simple thing, we’d be making a big difference together.”

Visit the Carmarthenshire biodiversity website www.carmarthenshirebiodiversity.co.uk to find the survey and pledge forms.