What Difference Can I Really Make?

As I write it’s almost the end of September 2020; it’s been a very strange year with the COVID-19 pandemic taking the world as we knew it and forcing us to adapt and change to the “new normal” that requires us to have less personal contact but more personal space, a pocket or bag with at least one face mask contained within and the application of hand sanitiser periodically along with hands washed whilst we sing a variety of songs to ensure we’re thorough.

Back in March when we were first put into lockdown it was as if someone had turned off a switch; you know when you’re working in an office there’s a constant drone from the fan on your computer and the electrics - it’s not noisy enough to put you off what you’re doing but when you get to the end of the day and you turn it all off you noticed the change, that all of a sudden there’s a peace? I felt like that’s what had happened to the world, as I walked the dog I could hear more subtle changes in the woods, I noticed more birdsong and more insect life and I questioned whether that was because I could see and hear it more or whether there was more about?

I still don’t have the full answer but I do have a partial answer which came via a webinar this morning presented by a professor who specialises in the impact humans have on the natural world.

I belong to a networking group called Vertue which has been created for businesses who have an active interest in making positive environmental change; this morning’s speaker explained that birds have been recorded changing the frequency and sometimes the complexity, of their song to adapt to the noise created by humans. This has been seen particularly in urban environments where the birdsong is drowned out by traffic and so the birds adapt to be heard and attract their mate.

This has really made me think - through the action of our daily lives we’re actively causing other species to change their nature.

I have so many thoughts about this subject -both positive and negative - and so many questions! In all honesty, when I listened to the professor talk this morning I felt quite overwhelmed with responsibility to correct the problems that we as humans have created, and equally overwhelmed by what that means and question how is it possible to make the massive change that’s required to create a better state of equilibrium.

He mentioned that in the last 40 to 50 years 52% of the overall wildlife population, globally, has declined and we later discovered that over 400 species in England alone have become extinct in the past 200 years! Guess what; humans have had a rather large hand in this, so what can we do to have a more positive impact?

My philosophy is that if we all focus on making 1% of change, then together we can affect bigger change that has a greater impact. Over the past few years I’ve been testing my theory on my own patch.

When we moved into our current home the garden consisted of a pristine lawn and a couple of trees, over the past six years I’ve added plants that are beneficial to our insects, left areas as “set aside” or scruffy, allowed weeds to grow in the lawn, added bird boxes, insect hotels etc, created water sources and planted more trees. I’ve visibly noticed an increase in wildlife since attempting to work in harmony - we’ve had a family of hedgehogs move in (three grownups being the most spotted so far), been visited by deer, watched plenty of birds fledge from their boxes on the tree, listened to owls calling one another from their lookout in our garden, of course seen lots of butterflies and multiple species of bees, delighted in ladybirds and other bugs, jumped with the frogs and even welcomed the snails!!

What we’ve noticed is that as we have created a space for the wildlife, we have in turn had more enjoyment from the space and because we have more species of beasties both big and small they have provided food for other species which have started visiting, this year I delighted in watching the swifts swooping overhead catching their dinner - something previously rarely seen, and we now appear to have a kite regularly visiting too which is awesome to watch.

So my conclusion from today - little steps can add up to long distances. I hope to continue to make a difference on my patch and will share them for you to have a go too - let me know if you notice a difference where you are.

Here’s something you can do this weekend to get started which was filmed back in the early summer but is needed all year round.