Coordination of gardening efforts may help save Britain's wildlife

17:01:20 19th January 2010

People should coordinate their gardening efforts in a bid to protect Britain's vulnerable wildlife, according to scientists at the University of Leeds.

Creating a network of interlinking habitats where birds, bees and mammals can flourish would go some way towards encouraging urban biodiversity, the study claims.

Urban green spaces are becoming an important refuge for wildlife as towns and cities creep further into the countryside. In Leeds, private gardens cover 30 per cent of the total urban area.

Lead author Mark Goddard said gardens did not exist in isolation, but rather linked together to form "interconnected habitat networks" that should be planned and managed with the surrounding countryside.

"One person may plant a tree or create a pond in their own back garden, but the survival of many of the mobile species that live in towns and cities, such as birds and mammals, is dependent on the provision of larger areas of habitat."

Meanwhile the largest survey of wildlife in UK schools is underway. The initiative, introduced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, encourages children and their teachers to look for and count the birds that share their school environment.