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Welcome to the Sustainable Living Podcast. We are thrilled to have you here!

Are your ready to change the world? Or maybe thinking about it?

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Our goal is to create a community where we can learn from and inspire each other.

We are Marianne and Jenise and are so honored that you are listening to our Podcast.

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Marianne and Jenise

 

Mar 8, 2017

Episode 83 - Community Nature Reserve

Dr. Adrian Cooper is on a mission to spread a new idea which could help to save local wildlife: the community nature reserve.

The term "community nature reserve" may bring up visions of national parks and there are certain similarities. Both community nature reserves and national parks are created to help support and protect wildlife. Both are also supported and frequented by nature lovers.

But unlike national or government-run nature conservation projects, community nature reserves are actually created by neighbors planting wildlife-friendly plants in their own backyards.

Alarmed and Frustrated

Like so many of us, Adrian, a wildlife friend, scholar and speaker on the topic, became alarmed by the rapid decline in wildlife populations he was seeing. When he saw that politicians were ignoring the issue, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He connected with like-minded neighbors, and together they hatched a plan. Each neighbor would plant wildlife-friendly plants in their own yards and together they would work toward creating a local nature reserve that, added up, would equal the size of a soccer field.

Dr. Adrian has seen a lot of enthusiasm for his idea, as you will learn in this interview.  His neighborhood in Felixstowe England has embraced it wholeheartedly.

And as an important fringe benefit: the community has come together. Neighbors have come to know one another, and they continue to work on projects that will benefit all involved.

A Symbiotic Relationship

Just about all of us know the soul-rejuvenating effects of visiting a park or nature reserve.  Not so long ago, we didn't have to travel miles to experience and interact with nature.

But, the advent of the industrial age brought with it in increase in city-living. And even suburb developers rarely gave a thought to preserving and protecting local wildlife.

The studies that show how beneficial spending just a little time in nature can be, are numerous.  So why not create a space that helps both humans and wildlife by encouraging their interaction?

Here and Now

I was truly inspired by Adrian and I've become convinced that his idea is powerful. In fact, The Sustainable Living Podcast will be featuring Adrian's tips for creating your own community nature reserve on future episodes of the podcast. Be sure to listen to the very end of this episode to hear Adrian's first tip.

If you are as disturbed as I am about the alarming decline in wildlife around the world, you may wish to share this idea with your own neighbors.  It's nice to know there is something we all can do to help wildlife here and now.

For more information about starting a community nature reserve: https://www.positive.news/2017/environment/24915/the-nature-reserve-that-social-media-built/
 
For lots of hints and tips about individual wildlife friendly plants: https://www.facebook.com/FelixstoweCommunityNatureReserve