Page 20 - ALG Issue 2 2015

Feature on... wildlife
Allotment wildlife
friend or foe?
The majority of allotment sites sit in urban areas surrounded by concrete, bricks
and tarmac, so it is hardly surprising
that any wildlife that remains makes a beeline for the nearest plot. Sites that also link up with parks, open spaces, railway lines, rivers and derelict land are even more likely to become part of a fox or badgers’ nightly round and incur the occasional visit from deer. Rural wildlife may have more choice of sustenance
and shelter, but they are also going to
be sorely tempted by the easy pickings
in a village plot; rabbit and deer proof fencing is required along with other
more imaginative measures like lion poo manure and windmills made from old CDs to prevent incursions.
In the summer of 2014, the Friends of the Earth/Buglife Bee Count revealed that more bees were seen on allotments than on any other habitat including parks, gardens and the countryside. Conservation organisations such as Froglife, Buglife and the Bumblebee
Conservation Trust all recognise that urban allotments provide an important support system for the insect, amphibian and reptile life that they work to preserve. Froglife run three Dragonfinder projects, London, River Nene and Scotland, which bring together practical conservation,
Allotments provide a much needed way for reptiles and amphibians and other wildlife to move around, and they also help to link up habitats.”
www.froglife.org/dragonfinder/.
Buglife produce a useful leaflet called ‘B-friendly to your veg’ as part of their B-Lines
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surveying, data collection and interactive educational activities to help conserve reptiles and amphibians in the UK. Many of their events and activities also take place on allotments.
Allotments are an important habitat for wildlife, particularly in built-up, urban areas
project that outlines the simple steps that you can take to encourage beneficial insects to your plot. Some of these include:
• Using natural pest control and companion planting which can both attract beneficial insects and deter pests.
“Allotments are an
important habitat for wildlife,
particularly in built-up, urban
areas. Many allotments
have been around for
years – some for more than a century; for amphibians and reptiles allotments act as a ‘historical safe-house’ providing a constant habitat for these animals even when the landscape around them has changed.
• Using fewer pesticides.
• Being less tidy, leaving areas of bramble
and patches of nettles on site that
provide food and shelter for insects. • Sowing a wildflower margin.