How to protect green spaces
5 things to try
1. Give it a grow, whatever your space
Bring nature nearer by growing plants, whether you have a garden, windowsill or bedside table. Not a green bone in your body? Not to worry, growing is all about trowel and error and we’ve got the tips you need to get started.
2. Create a home for wildlife
Loss of habitat is the number one threat to biodiversity and every garden, balcony or terrace, no matter how big or small, can support local wildlife. Download the My Wild Garden booklet to find simple ways to protect Manchester wildlife and make your garden wilder.
3. Keep your garden green
More and more of us are choosing to pave over our front gardens or swap natural grass for plastic grass (artificial turf). Let nature be nature by sticking to natural grass, leave trees and hedges to grow, avoid using herbicides, pesticides or slug pellets, and limit the use of weed-killer wherever you can. Not only will wildlife love you for it, you’ll also improve drainage and reduce your risk of flooding. Click here for more environmentally-friendly gardening tips.
4. Go peat-free
When buying compost for your window box or garden make sure you opt for peat-free compost as removing peat from its natural habitat releases lots of carbon and destroys wildlife habitats. The Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust have a put together a great peat-free at home guide.
5. Plant trees from your desk
Make your searches worth something: switching your browser to Ecosia can help plant trees. So far users have raised enough money through searching for Ecosia to plant over 94 million trees and counting. Ecosia also has a dark mode which uses less energy than the white-background regular version. OCG is a similar free extension that uses the money advertisers pay to show you ads to clean up the oceans, rather than that money going to big tech companies. Surfing the net never felt so good.
Ready to do more?
Get involved with growing by volunteering at your nearest community garden - find out more here.
Want to get your school more involved with nature? Manchester Environmental Education Network has put together this pack of tips on how to engage your school with biodiversity.
Get involved with local growing groups, Manchester City Council has a map of food growing projects around Greater Manchester, check out your closest group here!
Upping It helps residents in Moss Side and Rusholme clean up alleyways to reduce fly-tipping and create greener, cleaner spaces to enjoy. Find out more here.
