As spring arrives and nature blooms around Elmbridge, this can remind us of all we should invest in our planet. To act, to innovate and implement - we are all accountable for our home!

Spring is in the air and showcasing the beauty of Surrey’s plants and wildlife, and there is no better time to help it thrive to its full potential and help tackle climate change along the way. Biodiversity and climate change go hand in hand, and we cannot tackle climate change without addressing biodiversity, nor address biodiversity loss without tackling climate change.

Conserving and creating biodiverse areas can help us reduce the extent of climate change and manage its impacts. Healthy ecosystems will be more robust to the effects of climate change which will benefit not only wildlife and fauna, but ecosystem services that our success and wellbeing rely upon. This proves that we always need to work with nature.

Issues facing biodiversity and climate change impacts may feel like a world away, however, Surrey’s environment is being negatively affected and climate change impacts are becoming more and more evident. An astounding 972 species are on the decline in Surrey alone, reducing its overall biodiversity. It’s also apparent that climate change risks and impacts are increasing in the county, with recent increased flooding incidents over the past decade alone.

Making lots of changes in your lives to lower greenhouse gases can be daunting when it comes to climate change, however, the extent of future impacts is startling. Conserving and increasing the biodiverse ecology on Earth is a step towards reducing CO2 levels and by diversifying nature, it assists us to cope with climate change impacts.

Please see below for how you can act, innovate and implement this spring to help biodiversity, mitigate impacts and adapt to climate change:

Act

• Get involved with conservation volunteer opportunities local to you. You can find a list of what’s opportunities are coming up this month on our website. 
• Join in at a community garden or start an allotment!

Innovate

• Get creative with introducing ponds to attract wildlife; why not create a green corridor, including softer boundary treatments such as trees and hedges rather than fences?
• Invent ways to welcome bees by installing a bee hotels or encourage birds to visit with a bird feeders and boxes.
• Get some inspiration and attend one of our nature walk events around the borough. Please find a list on our website.

Implement

• Start leaving parts of your garden wild, which will allow species and wildlife to flourish.
• Try planting wildlife friendly plants in your garden to attract pollinators and use your home to introduce plants such as herbs.

Please see the Sustainable Elmbridge section on our website for more information.