Rewilding or Renaturing? – An “On the Verge” and “Trees for Seaford” partnership
New year – new plan. We’ve been talking about increasing biodiversity in Seaford for a year now, and we often use the word “rewilding.
To me, “wilding” is the fantastic work being done at the Knepp Estate, where the only land management is controlling the number of horses, pigs and cows that wander round the site at will, cutting the grass, pruning the bushes and rooting the earth around in search of food!
Land manager at Knepp Estate
You may be relieved to know we have no plans to bring cattle to the Martello Fields, or pigs to root through your grass verges. We do want to work with our partners to thoughtfully and sensibly manage our green spaces to bring more nature back to Seaford. From now on, we will be using the words “renaturing” and hope this gives a better idea of what we are doing. We particularly want to attract insects especially pollinators including bees, hoverflies, moths and butterflies. This should also increase the number of birds in our town, and make it more attractive to people too!
Mother Shipton moth
Just leaving small areas to go completely wild, would not necessarily maximise the biodiversity anyway. This was proved in the interesting BBC programme “The British Garden, life and death on your lawn” by Chris Packham. Leaving areas untended can also result in only tenacious “weeds” and brambles, that would discourage people from enjoying our green spaces.
New Trees
During this Winter “Trees for Seaford” volunteers have been helping to plant trees all around town.
Regular volunteer Frances told us “For me it is a dream come true to see my road lined with trees. It was actually rather a nice way to meet my neighbours and good to feel so supported by the tree planting group.” Another resident was so thrilled that she made a donation and offered to water four trees when required.
New trees really are a fantastic symbol of hope for the future, in a year of so much personal sadness and loss, and growing awareness of the climate emergency.
Get in touch to find out more about how you can help bring nature back to Seaford!
Also printed in Seaford Scene, many thanks as always to Fran