New urban jungles

Moves to integrate wildlife biodiversity into the built environment are gaining momentum

- By SIMON WARD

WE OFTEN IMAGINE conservation unfolding in wild, far-flung landscapes, not in the middle of bustling cities. Urban environments can seem like the end of the road for nature, where even the trees appear weary, boxed into concrete pavements and gridlocked streets with a faint look of dismay.

But look a little closer and a different story emerges. On rooftops, in alleyways and through the tiniest cracks in the pavement, biodiversity is finding its way back in. Wildlife, it turns out, can thrive even in the heart of the metropolis. Cities, says Nathalie Pettorelli of the Zoological Society of London, aren't just degraded wastelands where 'real' nature has been paved over. They're ecosystems in their own right. The problem isn't that they aren't forests - it's that we keep pretending that they should be.

"If you frame our cities as 'trash nature', you never appreciate the nature of a city as an ecosystem in itself," she says. "But if you accept the city is an ecosystem, the question then becomes: how do you make that ecosystem more biodiverse?"

Rather than comparing Hackney to the Highlands, imagine comparing it to a 'better' Hackney. Greener, messier and more connected, sheltering species that can roam and explore and enhance the ecosystem. A habitat with hedgehog highways and bird-friendly balconies, where what grows between the cracks isn't merely tolerated but welcomed. If all the private gardens in London were linked up and allowed to rewild, you'd get a landmass about the size of the New Forest. Somewhere between the compost bins and patio chairs, the city becomes a national park in disguise.