Urban Wildlife

Urban Wildlife

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2006

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Urban Wildlife

At one time museums and zoos provided people with the only opportunity of seeing animals they had read about in books . They were collectors items , curiosities to be marvelled at for their size , ferocity , brightly coloured posteriors or strange shapes . Today the animals , mouldering and dusty in their glass cages , are depressing reminders of an growing number of species that have vanished from the scene . Zoos have become more

sophisticated in the way animals are exhibited , and are more enjoyable as entertainment and some have breeding programmes that are aimed at preserving endangered species . But they represent a view of nature that is remote external to human affairs

Television has raised the educational level of the public with a host of informative programmes on the nature of the living world . But one may question whether the urban experience of nature , and the role of design is still not largely focused on the exotic bird in a space frame cage and the elephant and tiger secure behind the well-designed moat . Most of our knowledge comes to us second hand through the media . Direct contact with nature and the animal world , apart from resident starlings and pigeons , is confined to non-urban , or for that matter , non-local experience . It is to be had from the weekend at the cottage , or , until relatively recently , on occasional school visits to the rural interpretive centre . Most of us know little about wildlife in the places where we mostly live

Despite the pressures that human populations place on any land found within towns and cities , there are substantial areas of land which have some value to nature , and even some sites with major nature conservation value . The variety of these sites , both terrestrial and aquatic , can be quite amazing from small derelict sites to large historical deer parks and from fragments of long-standing marsh to extensive reservoirs Woodland and forest , grassland and meadow , marshes and water , are the habitat for wildlife . The diversity , structure and continuing evolution of plant communities , their interaction with landform , soils and climate , dictate the diversity and stability of wildlife populations The range of habitats in urban areas is surprising . Indeed , most of the major terrestrial habitat types are represented in towns and cities either as remnants of previously rural environments , or as artificial analogues of semi-natural habitats

The built environment is enhanced by trees which are valuable in landscape and amenity , and for screening , aesthetics and wildlife Woodland in towns and cities is often limited in size and frequently derives from scrub development on land encapsulated but not managed , or land once developed and now derelict . The tree species in towns depend on the history , management and location . In many cases , native species have given way to exotic species , especially along streets and in urban parks

The development of towns and cities results from the need for housing work and other facilities for people . This puts...