Urban Greening | Surrey Nature Loss | ZERO Green Blue Infrastructure Projects

Urban Greening for Surrey Nature Recovery

Harm to nature and wildlife is the no.1 concern over the impact of climate change. We're piloting green-blue infrastructure engagement to reverse Surrey's nature loss

11%

of Surrey's native species have gone extinct in the last few decades

> 30%

of our native species are classed as 'rapidly decling'

68%

of Surrey residents rate action on climate & environment as urgent

100+

community groups are engaged in Surrey Nature Recovery

How can you support nature recovery...?

What Is 'Urban Greening'?

It might not be apparent as you bask in the wonderful leafiness of Surrey, but 11% of our native species been declared extinct over the last 30 years! This is one of many shocking statistics from The State of Nature Report, but perhaps the standout figure is that over 30% of Surrey's species are classed as 'rapidly declining' - and that's not just obscure plants you've not hear of, it includes hedgehogs, bats and pollinators.

Read on to find out how you can play your part in reversing this decline and restore local nature whether you're a resident or a business.

We're the most wooded county in the UK (at least as of the 2014 aerial mapping), but despite this fact, our biodiversity-loss rate is higher than the national average.

There are several reasons for the accelerating nature crisis globally and locally: warming average temperatures disrupt seasonal patterns in plant and animal life; destruction of habitats for monoculture crops; and - the issue that urban greening helps to address - fracturing of habitats by the expanding sprawl of urban areas.

Working with partners across the county we aim to address that third issue to reverse the loss of Surrey’s wildlife. You can visibly see the issue from the map below, with the blue areas representing the local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the pink areas ancient woodland. Both habitats are divided in half by Guildford town centre

Using strategically mapped green corridors through our town centres, or 'Urban Biodiversity Opportunity Areas (URBOAs)' we hope to reconnect Surrey’s habitats by creating biodiversity corridors across our urban areas.

The green corridors have been mapped by Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT), and along with Surrey County Council and delivery partners such as Global Centre for Clean Air Research, this project will support urban greening interventions across Surrey's built-up areas.

With delivery partners, we've been piloting an engagement approach across the Guildford 'URBOA', with the goal of understanding the challenges whilst delivering interventions which green up our urban spaces to help reconnect fractured habitats.

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

There are 48 Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) currently under development across the UK by statutory bodies, wall aimed at reversing nature loss in the UK, one of the world's most nature depleted countries.

Surrey's LNRS is branded Surrey Nature Recovery, and is run by Surrey County Council, in collaboration with Surrey Nature Partnership.

Surrey's LNRS is still going through the planning phase. 8 engagement workshops have been run so far, to get public input on setting priorities within the LNRS. Over 100 groups from across Surrey have been involved, and the LNRS team are aiming to have the framework ready for formal public consultation within the next couple of months.

However, there are 2 key things to note:

1. A huge number of the public's priorities will have to be dropped from the LNRS framework. As an example, Kent County Council have narrowed their priorities down to 59- but over 400 were identified during the engagement process! This is an unfortunate but necessary step in creating a policy that will actually be deliverable with the resource available.

2. Local Authorities have been under-funded for years, and there will be little budget available to ensure that the framework acualy turns into on-the-ground delivery.

Even if you missed the LNRS workshops you can still have a say via Commonplace. Click the image above to visit the website!

Bearing these two factors in mind, it's essential that communities, charities, residents groups and more band together to support local authorities in delivering the outcomes that ensure Surrey's nature and people can thrive long into the future. ZERO, along with Surrey Wildlife Trust and other will be doing what we can to ensure that we can help to deliver practical action within the LNRS strategy, and secondly to try to pick up and of the priorities which we feel are key but which don't make the final cut of the framework.

Green blue infrastructure (GBI) projects have a number of benefits - and not just for wildlife! In fact, you could argue that with increasingly hot summers and intense rainfall, GBI is perhaps as important for humans as it is for our local species.

There's a wide range of co-benefits from most urban greening projects, and when you consider that Guildford has the highest concentrations of nitrogen dioxide air pollution of any stretch of highway in England, GBI interventions (coupled with reducing traffic) are a no-brainer for reducing childhood asthma and keeping us all safe and healthy.

Typically, green-blue infrastructure projects bring the following benefits:

providing key corridors across fractured habitats for pollinators and wildlife
increasing access to green space in urban areas
improving air quality, which in parts of Guildford is shockingly poor
improving mental health and wellbeing via access to nature
Increasing natural shading, which evidence shows lowers reliance on local public health services and reduction in skin cancer rates
Improving rainwater absorption as a flood resilience measure

Watch

We're involved in a number of GBI projects, one of which, at Sandfield Primary School, has reduced air pollution on the school grounds by between 30-40%. Our partners on this project, the Global Centre of Clean Air Research, are one of the leading air quality research labs in the world, focused on research for cleaner air, including through solutions like urban greening. Watch this great video they made explaining how urban greening can also help us counter the urban heat island effect as our towns plan for building resilience to the increasing temperatures we're experiencing from climate change.

How Can You Help Reverse Nature Loss?

18 URBOAs have been mapped across Surrey, so if you're not Guildford based don't worry! We're running the pilot in Guildford to understand how best to engage on urban greening, identify people's priorities, and understand obstacles to scaling the project up. But with our delivery partners we hope that the lessons learned will ensure that all of Surrey's towns benefit from these efforts

Whether you're a business, community group, or individual, there are a range of solutions you can look at to help be part of this plan. They vary in terms of cost, and bring a range of different benefits, but you can do many of these on a tight budget - maybe even free! All you need is somewhere to house your green-blue infrastructure, and a maintenance plan that ensures your urban greening project will last for many years.

Urban greening ideas for business

Urban greening interventions bring a number of benefits to your business, from improving employee wellbeing to helping you attract and retain talented staff, as well as building resilience to climate impacts and contributing to your Corporate Social Responsibility of ESG goals!

Roof Garden

Living Wall

Rain Garden

Many of the UK's largest businesses are beginning to make their own estates havens for nature. With companies battling for talent the health and wellbeing perks of working whilst surround by nature make elaborate green blue infrastructure like roof gardens increasingly popular

Living walls vary in price, particularly depending on irrigation requirements, but the beauty is that they can be installed almost anywhere, even when space is limited

Problems with wet ground or flooding? These will only get worse as our weather patterns become more extreme due to climate change. A rain garden is a great way to support nature whilst protecting property from flooding.

Wildflower meadow

Wildlife Pond

Planter

A wildflower meadow can support a vast range of species, and requires little maintenance. If you've got a patch of land which is devoid of life, why not create a vibrant home for nature using Surrey-native seeds from sites like Sheepleas

Wildlife ponds are great for nature and humans alike! They bring relaxation and wellbeing benefits whilst hosting a huge range of local species - including newts, frogs and dragonflies!

If you want to do your part for nature but you have minimal space, even a single planter can make a difference! If every business in Guildford planted a range of native species it would create rest stops through urban areas to help support wildlife.

Urban greening ideas for residents

Sure you probably don't have a meadow for a back garden, and a roof garden isn't very practical on most Surrey homes! But your own little patch can be used in many ways to reverse nature loss - and even if you have no garden you can still do fantastic things with any outdoor space, just check out the Cloud Gardner for inspiration. Even if all of us living in urban areas created a pond or herb garden in a large pot, we could rapidly create connectivity corridors to slow and even reverse the threat to our local wildlife.

Herb Garden

Bug Hotel

Wild Garden

Bird / Bat Box

Making a bug hotel is a great weekend activity for the family, and you can provide shelter for pollinators like solitary bees. We sell home-made bug hotels made of recycled materials at ZERO, for those of you who aren't too handy.

Pollinators love herbs, and we rely on pollinators for our food production. The co-benefit of a herb garden, even if it's in a small windowsill or balcony pot, it saving money and cutting plastic use from supermarket herbs!

A wild garden doesn't have to mean it's a mess - though let's be honest, helping nature is a great excuse for those of us with busy lives who find it hard to get into the garden. Letting nature take over parts of your space can often bring the most benefits of all.

We've got many species of birds and some ecologically significant bat species in Surrey. Putting up a bird or bat box can be a great contribution for those of us with only balconies or limited space.

CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER...!

Urban Greening for Surrey Nature Recovery

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