Domestic gardens are vital for biodiversity. Julia Widdows describes a new local project to encourage wildlife at our doorsteps.
Our countryside is under constant pressure from development, traffic, pollution, and intensive agriculture, and is no longer the haven for a rich variety of wildlife that it has been in the past.
UK gardens make up an area one-fifth the size of Wales, bigger than all the UK wildlife reserves put together. They can provide a variety of habitats, even within a small space. In our cities, towns and suburbs, the gardens, parks, street trees and other green spaces link together to create an ‘urban woodland’ that wildlife can move through freely. And for humans, research shows that greenery improves our physical and mental health, cools our cities, provides shade, and helps counter the effects of flooding and pollution.
As part of our project to find out what existing green resources we have in Old Shoreham, to preserve and enhance them, Greening Old Shoreham and its Nature Map Project is running an online garden survey. We want to find out more about the gardens here in Old Shoreham and gauge the interest of residents in improving the green environment.
We are asking about any outdoor spaces, from balconies and tiny backyards to private or communal gardens, as all can provide a refuge and stop-off point to animals, birds and insects. We want to know how people use these spaces, whether they have put in any special resources to support biodiversity, what kind of wildlife they see there, and whether there is anything they would like to help them create or improve wildlife-friendly gardens.
We trialled a paper version of the garden survey in March 2025 at the monthly coffee morning at St Nicolas Church and had 30+ responses. The majority rated wildlife an important part of the garden experience, and it was heartening to see that quite a few people had spotted slow worms, hedgehogs, and even stag beetles within the last year, as well as more common creatures. The main requests for further wildlife-related information or activities were tree-planting and learning how to create hedgehog highways.
These responses were a great start, and we would love to find out more about the gardens on our doorstep and how they help biodiversity. If you live in Old Shoreham and would like to take part, the survey is here.
Julia and other members of the Greening Old Shoreham team will be at the Midsummer Fair in St Nicolas Lane on Saturday 21 June from 2 to 5pm, with paper copies of the Garden Survey; seed planting activities for children; and information about the Nature Map and about conservation volunteering with FOldS.
