“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”                          – William Blake, Auguries of Innocence, 1863

While the convention on biological diversity is a move forward, the United Nations 2020 Strategic Plan for biodiversity excludes urban biodiversity features. As a counter measure, several public and municipal initiatives have developed to regenerate biodiversity in urban life. (21) This is where gardening plays a vital role in helping to conserve biological diversity in rural and urban spaces. With urban spaces growing in the future decades ahead, incorporating biodiversity conservation into urban and regional planning as well as encouraging private landowners to foster biodiversity through gardening will aid in overall biodiversity well-being. Private gardens collectively comprise the largest green space in most cities and is the greatest potential for increasing the extent of wildlife-friendly and native-dominated  habitat, improving the quality of ecosystem services and providing opportunities for urban dwellers to reconnect with nature.”(22) Moreover, “complimentary public and private conservation action is required to sustain native biodiversity in cities. Residents can contribute by wildlife gardening – removing environmental weeds, cultivating indigenous flora and improving habitat in their gardens.” (23)

With natural habitats becoming increasingly fragmented and reduced, plant, insect and animal species’ survival and well-being are at threat.  As our planet becomes more urbanized, there is more of a need to establish and support green spaces for the health benefits they provide us and to help conserve biodiversity.  As global citizens, there are many actions we can participate in to help improve the state of biological diversity while supporting our own wellness needs. One small way to accomplish this is through gardening!

With this in mind, the biodiverse wellness garden model was created. It focuses on taking natural elements that support human wellness and biodiversity into designing and creating a garden. Instead of viewing biodiversity and human wellness as separate, this type of garden offers a holistic approach to supporting both wildlife and human wellness. 

As science has demonstrated and how we ourselves have experienced, spending time in nature such as in a nature-based garden, reduces stress, elevates mood, promotes physical and psychological recovery and supports spiritual wellness. In turn, nature-based gardens support biodiversity by creating a habitat for creatures to visit and live in, and plants to feed on, thus fostering the interconnected relationship that we all share on this planet. For more information, check out this website’s tabs on “Gardens and Human Health” and “Biological Diversity.”

A customized, comprehensive expert garden plan is available from biodiversewellnessgardens.com. These garden plans are custom designed to meet your vision, needs and budget. This service also designs biodiverse wellness gardens for specific uses. Our key goal is to offer a service that designs a garden, which both humans and biodiversity will enjoy! Please visit the “Contact” tab to connect with us to design your own Biodiverse  Wellness Garden!

References

21. Singh, Kavita and Swami, Sinha Meenakshi. “Vision of Urban Agriculture Towards Biodiversity Richness”. “Journal of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management. Print ISSN: 2394-0786, Volume 2, Number 4; July-September 2015, pp. 290-295.

22. Van Heezik, M, Yolanda et al. “Closing the Gap: Communicating to Change Gardening Practices in Support of Native Biodiversity in Urban Private Gardens”. Ecology and Society 17(1): 34. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04712-170134

23. Mumaw, Laura and Bekessey, Sarah. “Wildlife Gardening for Collaborative Public-Private Biodiversity Conservation”. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management. Volume 24, Issue 3, 2017, pp 242-260.