Rewilding Tetbury
The recent BBC Wild Isles series reminded us how precious our wild isles are and, linked to this, the RSPB, WWF and National Trust have teamed together on a campaign to encourage you and me to stop the destruction of UK nature. saveourwildisles.org.uk.
In the UK: 38 million birds have disappeared in the past 50 years. One in four mammals are at risk of extinction, 97 per cent of wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s.
Why should we care? Well, nature is our life support system. It’s vital for the production of
food, clean air and water and it regulates temperatures. Without it, we cannot survive as a
species.
You may ask what you can do about it, think it’s up to the politicians, but as Sir David says,
“…every one of us, no matter where we live, can and must play a part in restoring nature to
our isles. …” Greening Tetbury is working with local organisations, the Feoffees, the Town Council and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust on projects to support nature in our public spaces, for example in the railway park and at Cookspool and there are plans for more sites in the future.
But, you can make a difference too. If we put all our UK urban gardens together, they would add up to an area 1/5th the size of Wales. What if, here in Tetbury, we managed our gardens with wildlife in mind? Could we make a difference?
Here are some ideas for creating a nature friendly garden:
Introduce native plants and trees (use the iNaturalist app (uk.inaturalist.org/) to ID) and plant multi layer areas with small trees, bushes, perennials and native wild flowers
Put in a pond - a bucket of water with a few pond plants can be enough;
Create a gap in your garden fence/wall to allow animals through and make wildlife corridors through the town and into the countryside.
Stop using weedkillers and fertilisers and let weeds grow - dandelions give early nectar for returning insects and butterflies.
Leave prunings, fallen branches and dead leaves to rot down in the garden to provide food and shelter for wildlife.
Let your grass grow, especially in no mow May, a critical period for insects like bees and butterflies and the plants that depend on them for pollination.
And, don’t forget to create a space where you can enjoy the natural world you have created in all the time you save from not weeding, digging, clearing and mowing.
You can make an impact! Go to rhs.org.uk/wildlife for more ideas and if you would like to visit gardens already trying this out, please reach out to us.
Upcoming events:
May 1st Greening Tetbury will have a stall at the Wacky Races. Please come and chat to us about all things ‘Green’ especially the carbon neutral racing carts!
May 7th at 4:45am-5:45am. Please join us for the Dawn Chorus. Meeting in the Goods Shed car park. Bring a torch and a picnic breakfast.
May 8th is Coronation Volunteering Monday. We invite everyone to join in a massive Litter Pick of your own area of Tetbury. There is litter picking equipment available from the Council Offices. There will be large bins at the back of the Council Offices for the rubbish. Please remember to keep children safe and not pick up dangerous rubbish like animal excreta or broken glass. Following the Litter Pick you are invited to bring your own ‘single-use Plastic Free’ picnic to the picnic area of the Goods Shed where the Mayor and Deputy will be offering free drinks to all volunteers. Please remember to bring along your own drinking (keep) cup and water bottle too. There will be a prize for the best Plastic Free picnic!
Paint the Town Green will be in June this year. Some of our exciting programme is outlined below:
June 11th 3pm Video of ECO songs from children of Nursery/Playgroups in Tetbury. Also reading of the winning story ECO FLASH FICTION from St. Mary’s and Avening schools.
Followed by ECO Puppet show at 4pm.
June 14th a hopeful talk on Climate Change Solutions at the Goods Shed. Preceded by the reading of the winning story ECO FLASH FICTION from SWR and Westonbirt schools.
June 16th 9am-5pm Cotswold Homeowners Day at the Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove. There is a cost. Please email: highgrove@princes-foundation.org for more details
June 17th Repair Day of furniture and clothing. From 11-1pm or 2-4pm with The Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove. These sessions are free of charge. Please email: highgrove@princes-foundation.org for more details.
Watch our FB page for the date of an exciting Foraging Day with an expert.
We will also have a Greening Tetbury stall in the Market Place on the first and last Saturday in June, please come and talk to us and join us in tackling Climate Change in Tetbury.
The next meeting of Greening Tetbury will be on the 25th of May at 7.30pm in Christ Church, The Chipping, Tetbury. All welcome. If you are not a member please email to join the meeting.