About
About me:
From pretty much the day I was born I've had a huge passion for the natural world, ecology and in general how the world works. I have a particular interest in British wildlife. I also garden for wildlife and have been doing so for as long as I can remember. I am an amateur naturalist, ecologist, botanist, wildlife gardener, rewilder and more recently wildlife photographer. I've gained huge amounts of knowledge and experience from it and I want to share it. Although I'm only an amateur and do this as a hobby I want to pursue it as a profession to become something like a conservationist; not only to preserve already existing habitats, but to create new one's! and ultimately re-wilding Bristol and beyond. This website is partly about getting myself recognition and notice for future careers but also as a means of spreading knowledge and interest to reconnect people of all ages and backgrounds with the natural world.
About this website:
This is a relatively new website still in the making and started around the time of the beginning of lockdown in 2020 although I'd had the idea of making a website for years previous to then. It is largely inspired by Naturespot. The first creation was officially on the 8th of April and every picture on this website has been taken by me.
For:
I dedicate this website to Dr Clive M. Lovatt, an extremely accomplished Botanist and former BSBI (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland) Vice County recorder for West Gloucestershire; who, for the short time I knew him, was a great friend and teacher, helping enormously with his unrivalled local and historical knowledge of plants and naturalists of the past. R.I.P.
Aim:
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The UK is home to over 70,000 species of organism and this number is constantly growing as new one's are discovered. I estimate that the Bristol area is home to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of this number. I'm on a mission to document as many as I can along with the locations of where to find them. All of my records will ultimately end up at BRERC (Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre).
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To show the problems wildlife is facing (particularly in Bristol) and why biodiversity is in such massive decline.
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To show how / what needs to be done not just to halt, but to reverse the effects of decline.
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To show how to make your garden / local area wildlife friendly.
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Ultimately to reconnect others back with the natural world.
Why?
Like everywhere, Bristol's biodiversity is in massive decline! Bristol is turning into a far greyer jungle than it already is. Our local Swifts and Starlings for example have diminished by 98% and Skylarks by 60% in just the last 40 years and so Bristol's reputation of being 'green' is hanging by a thread!
As the city becomes ever more popular and busy, front gardens are being ripped up for driveways to park a beast of an 'American' sized car over the grave of a once thriving mini ecosystem, back gardens are turned over for Astro Turf, bordered by prison worthy fencing, blocking wildlife access. And what space is left, is jam-packed with useless, ugly, non-native, un-wildlife friendly, and often plastic plants! And my generation is inheriting a planet in which everyone is terrified by anything that moves and seem to be lucky if they know what a Daisy is! Because of how disconnected society has become from the natural world.
What's to come?
Many more locations, information on how to turn your garden / local area for wildlife, problems wildlife is facing (mainly local to Bristol and the UK) and solutions along with other educational resources to do with ecology and similar areas.
Email us: contact@wildbristol.uk