Biodiversity

Focus on Biodiversity 10 – 19 June

Almighty God our Creator, you have given us a world that is rich and diverse.
Help us to honour the integrity and balance that lies at the heart of your creation.
Give us vision to see the harm that is done by us and in our name, through greed and carelessness;
and give us true repentance, that through humility and reconciliation with your creation we may bring healing to your world and restore it to your glory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We depend completely on the biodiversity around us - the healthy soils, water and air we enjoy, as well as for the beauty of nature.

Biodiversity is the term for every plant and animal found on Earth as well as micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and their habitats. In a garden we are talking about everything from mosses and lichens, to plants and trees, different cultivated varieties of flowers, fruit and vegetables including common and rare species, soil micro-organisms, insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds.

Most of the oxygen we all breathe comes from plankton in oceans and forests around the globe. We rely on nature to provide us with food, fuel, medicine and other essentials we simply cannot live without.

Evolution means species come and go, but we are now aware that largely through the actions of man (habitat destruction, climate change, change of agricultural practices, environmental pollution, etc) we are now losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. This is a global problem but it is also a UK problem and we all have a responsibility to help.

Although we may not readily appreciate it, biodiversity provides us with many of the things that sustain our lives. It is essential for our well-being that we protect biodiversity - the variations in species, their lives and their habitats - because biodiversity is necessary for our quality of life and our standard of living. Every living thing has a place in what we call the "balance of nature", and upsetting that balance can have untold effects, from which, more often than not, we are the losers.

What are the Archbishop’s Council and York Diocesan Board of Finance going to do?

We will encourage our land agents looking after our glebe estates to seek out opportunities to manage and conserve the biodiversity of our land holdings

We will support and encourage PCCs in the audit and management of their churchyards and our Church Schools in their various initiatives to enable improved habitats and biodiversity.

What can you do as an individual?

In the UK some animals now depend on gardens and churchyards to a greater extent than ever before. And with about 16 million gardens out there, we can collectively make a huge difference. We’ve chosen five species or groups whose recent declines could be turned around by gardeners’ actions.

Song thrush

Plant a tall tree if you can; song thrushes use them as staging and singing posts. Hedging, shrubs and lawn are also vital as foraging and nesting areas.
Because thrushes eat slugs and snails, don’t use slug pellets, which can contain harmful metaldehydes. Keep the grass 1.5-2 inches long to encourage worms, and avoid any chemical treatments. For autumn food, plant bushes and trees with berries, particularly red ones: holly, rowan, and pyracantha always go down well.
A pond with a shallow, stony shore will make your garden more attractive to song thrushes (and other birds), as will an ‘anvil’ to smash snail shells on: paving slabs and flat rocks seem to suit them best.

Bats

Pipistrelles often hunt in gardens, and you are also likely to see the others. You’ll see them at dusk in summer, flying just above head height (if you’re young you may even be able to hear their ultrasonic calls).
Bats like different places to roost – ranging from old trees to modern eaves. For example, in summer pipistrelles frequently roost in modern estate houses under hanging tiles or soffit boards, switching between buildings according to the weather. So the main way to help is to keep cats away from roost exit holes (which can be as narrow as 5mm). Bats live for 15-20 years and breed very slowly, so an efficient cat can wipe out a colony.
Once airborne, pipistrelles can eat 3000 midges a night. So plant your garden to attract insects and dig a pond.

Hedgehog

This familiar mammal has seen an alarming decline, possibly by 50 per cent in 15 years, according to surveys by the Mammals Trust UK and The People’s Trust for Endangered Species. The reasons are still unclear.
In the wider countryside hedgehogs are ‘edge specialists’, snuffling along woodland boundaries and hedgerows searching for food. Gardens can replicate that habitat very well, especially if hedgehogs can wander between several different gardens easily. So resist the urge to tidy up too much, leave a few holes in the fence, and create shrubby borders.
Because hedgehogs eat slugs, snails, beetles, worms and caterpillars, a chemical-free garden is essential. If you’ve got a big garden you may even be able to provide a hibernation area. Leafy, twiggy areas, large log piles, rock heaps and holes in old walls are all potential sites.
Formal fish ponds with vertical sides can trap and drown hedgehogs. Shallow-sloping wildlife ponds, on the other hand, are a big help.

Bumblebees

All 25 species in the British Isles are suffering severe declines, and three are now extinct in England. One factor is the dramatic decline of wild flowers on farmed land. The six species usually seen in gardens are the common carder bee; red-tailed, buff-tailed, white tailed and early bumblebee; and the garden bumblebee.
Bees need pollen and nectar, both of which are most plentiful in wild flowers and traditional cottage garden plants. The crucial thing is to provide this resource as early in the year as possible (even snowdrops can help on warm days in January). If your local garden centre does not to have enough variety of suitable plants, try contacting a specialist wild flower nursery or seed supplier. For plant lists and suppliers, see www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk
Finally, you may be lucky enough to have bumblebees nesting in your garden, particularly if you have an old, crumbling wall. To encourage them, leave some tussocky grassy areas, preferably in warm sheltered locations.

(Information from www.wildaboutgardens.org)

What can your church do?

Let us know who is using your bird box – contact Eleanor Course (details at the back of the booklet)
Think about how you could manage your churchyard for both people and wildlife.
Encourage and support schools to create wildlife area and gardens.
Join in with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Churchyards project at www.ywt.org.uk

What else is happening?

10 - 19 June is also Cherishing Churchyards Week www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk

Further resources

Caring for God’s Acre www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust www.ywt.org.uk

Wildlife Gardening www.wildaboutgardens.org