Ironically keeping people out of an environment helps create wildlife sanctuaries. But unfortunately it also helps create a distancing, a lack of nature awareness and appreciation – which can lead to disrespect – manifesting its ugliness in fly tipping and litter dropping. This is a grim reality of the inaccessibility of nature in a city…
So many Brownfields look ugly and nature-less because of the oppressive fencing.
And we dump our crap in them – skanky mattresses, smelly fridges, disposable nappies – you name it, we dump it.
Imagine the delight of a mouse when it scuttles upon a mattress – or old sofa - fab bedding material – all ready for it to burrow into – no gathering of matter required.
Our disrespect only serves to spoil our environment – nature don’t seem to care – the litter strewn Brownfields are biodiverse habitats - with or without rubbish - because we don’t tend to go in them. But let’s not be fooled by this twist - mice will do just dandily without our unwitting contribution and we would do much better too.
Human nature and the wildness of untamed nature are not necessarily compatible – we appear to function better if things around us are orderly – neat and tidy. I watched a gardening programme the other night, about the healing benefit of plants. A woman diagnosed with cancer abandoned her garden – it taking the least priority in her life. Unused abandoned bikes began to rust; garden sheds began to rot. It upset her so much that she closed the curtains in the windows that looked out onto her garden. In come the landscape designers – they recreate her garden, removing the rubbish and planting bouquet’s of floral displays, a neat, texture full, fragrant full and colourful place, a sanctuary for her, to help her heal and move on…
Maybe all we need to do with Brownfield sites to enhance our appreciation of them is to remove the crap and obstacles…the floral displays, fragrances, colour, and texture are already there…