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    50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild
    50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild
    50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild
    Ebook260 pages1 hour

    50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild

    By Clare Gogerty and Maria Nilsson

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    About this ebook

    Increasing numbers of urban dwellers has led to many of us feeling alienated from the natural world. This is not how we are meant to live, and we don’t have to. Even in the most built-up environment, nature makes its presence felt. All we have to do is let it in.

    This book offers 50 invigorating activities and step-by-step projects to do exactly that, for anyone craving a connection with the natural world, but especially those living in cities and towns with limited daily access to it.

    Green refuges and outdoor spaces are more important now than ever – a break from our stressful, tech-consumed lives. It is well researched that being in nature radically improves our mental health, just minutes from your doorstep. Nature is waiting for us to discover it, even in the most urban environment. Go on a night safari, make a worm farm or create a one-pot allotment. With 200 smart illustrations, this practical and accessible guide will expand your horizons and increase your appreciation of wild spaces, whether on the street, in the park, or in nearby nature reserves.

    Chapters include:

    Be an Urban Naturalist: Go on a night safari, appreciate winter trees, spot moths or build a weathervane
    Engage with the Elements: Wild swimming, mudlarking, barefoot walking and creating art with found natural objects
    Look to the Skies: Cloudspotting, the dawn chorus and looking for murmurations
    Make Space for Nature: Building for biodiversity, make a worm farm, green up all your space
    Dig for Victory: Grow microgreens or create a one-pot allotment
    Find Your Wild Tribe: Join a community garden, adopt a street tree or take a city hike

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateOct 3, 2022
    ISBN9780008601485
    50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild
    Author

    Clare Gogerty

    Clare Gogerty is an author, journalist and award winning editor, working for Coast magazine for six years. She now lives in the countryside, where she writes books, works as a freelance journalist and runs a smallholding including sheep and chickens. Clare also writes travel and lifestyle journalism for the Guardian, Conde Nast Traveller and Homes & Antiques. Her previous titles include Book of the Coast (National Trust), Hidden Villages of Britain (Batsford) and Beyond the Footpath (Piatkus).

    Read more from Clare Gogerty

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      Book preview

      50 Things to Do in the Urban Wild - Clare Gogerty

      Introduction

      If you’ve ever sat at your computer at work and stared out of the window at a distant tree, or watched clouds scudding past a full moon, or put sunflower kernels out every morning for the birds, you will recognize a familiar yearning for the wild. This hunger for nature and the outdoors is harder to satisfy if you live in an urban area. We travel to work on a bus, sit at a desk in an air-conditioned office all day, nip out for a hasty pre-packaged sandwich at lunchtime and buy food in supermarkets on the way home. Some of us live in flats with no outside space on streets with no trees. Many have never grown their own food and cannot recognize birdsong. Seasons come and go unnoticed.

      This alienation from the natural world is not how we are meant to live. Fortunately, we don’t have to: even in the most built-up environment, nature makes its presence felt. All we have to do is let it in. This book suggests 50 ways to do exactly that.

      The Pull of Nature

      Increasing numbers of us live in urban areas. At the time of writing, this figure is around 55 per cent of the world’s population and is forecast to rise to 68 per cent by 2050. As cities, towns and suburbs grow more congested and as green areas are eroded by development, it is more important than ever to recognize the value of what nature remains, not just for the sake of animal and plant life but for our own wellbeing and happiness.

      The pull of nature was particularly strong during lockdown. Birdsong grew louder as there was less noise to compete with, wild animals reclaimed quiet streets and everyone searched for green spaces in which to take their daily walk. More than ever, we realized that immersing ourselves in the natural world should not be an occasional outing but a constant state of being.

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      Rethinking the Urban Landscape

      The secret to connecting with nature in cities is to value what nature survives – even thrives – there and not dismiss our urban spaces as barren, concrete jungles. Then we can build on what we find and green up our cities for everyone to enjoy and appreciate. This may take a little mental recalibration on our part: rather than seeing urban plants as weeds, it is time to think of them as food sources for pollinators and feeding stations for caterpillars and invertebrates, and to realize that their root systems are micro-habitats for various creatures that in turn are food for birds and hedgehogs. Instead of seeing wild animals such as foxes, pigeons, crows and gulls as pests to be at best tolerated and at worst culled, we should think of them as opportunists who have adapted to survive in difficult, messy circumstances and appreciate them as such.

      On Our Doorstep

      Fortunately, as nature’s role in our well-being and happiness is recognized, conservationists and town planners are doing their best to make built-up areas more nature-friendly. Tree-planting schemes and wildflower-rich road verges are restoring the balance to the inner (and outer) city. Nature reserves, wetlands and parks provide habitats for numerous creatures and birds, and community projects enable residents to grow their own fruit and veg.

      There is plenty that we can do as individuals to bring a little bit of wilderness into our lives. Whether it’s the simple act of picking up a leaf, getting up early to listen to the dawn chorus or going for a swim in a lake, it’s all out there, often in unexpected places, waiting to be discovered. It only takes a willingness to find it and a few steps from the front door for nature to reveal itself.

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      Hang Out with Moths

      City dwellers often associate moths with the ones that lay eggs in and munch through your jumpers (these are Tinea pellionella, the case-bearing clothes moth, or Tineola bisselliela, the webbing clothes moth, both around 1cm or ½in long and a dusty yellow colour). This does the species a disservice, however, as there are many other types of moths out and about in the urban environment doing valuable pollination work.

      Moths are most active at night, especially during warmer weather, when they emerge looking for food. Unfortunately, moth numbers have declined by almost a third in recent years, many as casualties of increasing light pollution, so it’s more important than ever to monitor and record those that remain. And it is totally worth it. You can attract them simply by leaving a porch light on, but a simple trap is a more reliable way to lure them in. Then you will be able to study and appreciate their exquisite and varied markings and record what you find.

      How to trap and record moths

      Moths are attracted to light and sugar. Various moth traps are available to buy, along with others to make using a light, a funnel and a container (find them online). This sugar method, however, is the simplest and is pretty effective.

      Warm, overcast, humid summer nights are best for mothing – you don’t want to do it when rain or wind is forecast. Avoid touching the moths: their wings are fragile and easily damaged. They will fly away when they have fed enough.

      You will need: A bottle of cheap red wine, 1kg (2lb 3oz) sugar, a few 1m (40in) lengths of cloth.

      1. Mix the wine and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Let the mixture cool.

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      2. Soak the lengths of cloth in the sugary liquid.

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      3. Hang the cloths over branches, a washing line or the back of a chair – whatever you have handy.

      4. Wait for a few hours after dark, then go out and check your trap.

      5. Take pictures of any moths that have landed and record what you have seen in a notebook.

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      Five moths common in urban areas in the UK

      Elephant hawk-moth: This distinctive moth has pink and olive-green wings. Found in woodland and gardens at dusk searching for nectar-rich plants such as honeysuckle.

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      ELEPHANT

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