Benefits of creating green spaces

Giving pollinators a helping hand

Pollinators are animals that help plants make fruit or seeds by moving pollen from one flower to another, fertilising the plant. Without pollinators plants can’t reproduce. This makes pollinators like bees and butterflies mini heroes in disguise. But, like most heroes, they also need a helping hand sometimes.

Loss of habitat, changing climates, and the rise of pesticides, are putting our pollinators at risk with 1 in 10 of Europe’s wild bee species facing extinction. This has huge consequences for biodiversity, wildlife and our own food security as 3/4 of crops rely on pollinators to grow.

You can make a difference by growing flowering plants in urban areas supports pollinators – we’ve asked wildlife expert Kate Bradbury to share her top tips for growing for wildlife.

Reducing food miles and packaging

Creating space for growing food in urban areas helps reduce food miles, single-use plastic packaging and food waste in transport.

Growing your own food helps you to eat more seasonally, and is a great activity to do with kids that sparks an interest in the natural world.

Many edible herbs, flowers and plants are also favourites among birds, caterpillars and pollinators, adding an extra bonus to the plate.

Quick-growing edibles such as herbs and lettuce is a good place to start for first-time growers.

That’s why we’ve asked urban gardener Jack Wallington to share his top tips for growing easy edibles.

Boosting health and wellbeing

Green urban areas provide safe routes for walking and cycling, and spaces for people to be active and spend time together in nature. This has a proven impact on mental and physical wellbeing.

For instance, a recent study by the University of Exeter Medical School found that a two-hour “dose” of nature a week significantly boosts health and wellbeing, even if you simply sit and enjoy the peace.

Bringing nature nearer

We believe that having access to high-quality green spaces should be accessible to everyone, but we know that this isn’t always the case.

Giving more people access to green spaces will lead to improved health, wellbeing and social cohesion, but also sow the seeds of a greater understanding, respect and care for our natural world.  

Preventing flash flooding

Recent years have seen an increase in extreme weather including periods of intense rainfall which can lead to flash flooding.

Green spaces absorb excess water which helps reduce flash flooding.

Still, more and more of us are choosing to pave over or gardens or replace the green stuff with plastic lawns (known as astroturf). Not only does this increase chances of flash flooding ad destroy wildlife habits, it also generates lots of microplastic waste that will never biodegrade.

Keeping our cities cool

As record-breaking temperatures and heatwaves become the new normal, urban green areas play a critical role in cooling cities. Open soils in parks, on lawns, in cemeteries and urban gardens, as well as green roofs, rooftop rain gardens or green walls, help buffer heat. In fact, studies comparing green sites with non-green sites found that on average temperatures were 0.94°C lower in green spaces during the day and 1.15°C lower during the night.

The cool news is that by protecting and creating more green spaces we can keep our cities cool.