Member Article

Newcastle upon Tyne’s city-dwellers love nature

A new poll of 100 people living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne reveals that city-dwellers have a strong affinity for nature and think that it’s important to help care for it. But the poll also highlights a conflict: while city-dwellers feel that nature is important to them, they find it hard to connect with it as much as they’d like to and a high proportion of people want to see more nature in cities. Newcastle was one of 17 cities polled by The Wildlife Trusts across the UK.

The survey comes at a time when we have stronger evidence than ever before that nature is good for us and makes us happy, however, people feel increasingly disconnected from nature and not enough is being done to ensure that the places where most people actually live and work - our cities - have thriving wildlife.

The poll reveals:

• 19% said their last ‘wow’ moment (a moment when they were amazed by something they had seen or heard) with nature was in their local city area, with 66% people recalling their last ‘wow’ moments about nature coming from television (16%), holiday (22%) and from visits to the countryside (23%)

• 91% of adults in Newcastle think that nature is important to them; they enjoy spending time in wild places (91%) and tend to feel relaxed in areas of wildlife/wild places (95%)

• 87% of adults in Newcastle didn’t think that they spent enough time in nature

• 57% have stopped and noticed nature in the past week; 49% have watched wildlife near to their home or in their garden; 40% have stopped and listened to birdsong; 36% of people have visited a wild place in the past week

• 4% have enjoyed a wild place as part of their working day in the last week, either near to their workplace or in their lunchbreak, and 23% of adults said they had experienced none of these things in the past week.

• 79% of adults want to see more nature in their local area in Newcastle

• 61% report doing something to help nature in their gardens, whether that’s growing plants and flowers that insects can thrive on (49%); feeding the birds (38%); putting up nest boxes (12%) or having a pond (11%). 15% report not doing anything at all.

• 92% of adults think it’s important to help nature, but just 20% think that they’re doing everything that they can. 72% want to do more, but for various reasons are struggling, for example 11% can’t find the time and 15% simply don’t know what they can do. 79% of adults want to see more nature in Newcastle

The poll results are released as The Wildlife Trusts launch their 30 Days Wild challenge running throughout June, encouraging people to commit Random Acts of Wildness (daily connections with nature) every day for thirty days.

More than 35,000 have pledged to do this so far including 3,000 schools and 1,000 businesses.

Mike Pratt Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive says: “The poll clearly shows how much nature means to people living in cities. People love nature so much that very high proportion says they do doing something to help care for it. The fact that so many adults want to see more nature in their cities is a wake-up call to us all.

“It’s a shame that only a fifth of city-dwellers have experienced a special moment where they were amazed by wildlife they’d seen or heard in their local area recently; the beauty of wild plants and sounds of bees buzzing and birdsong should be available to us all. Those ‘wow’ wildlife moments are all around us and 30 Days Wild is the perfect way to help you do that.”

The Wildlife Trusts are urging everyone to take part in our 30 Days Wild challenge and have ‘wow’ moments every day during June. Discover the urban jungle - spot gorgeous goldfinches or ferns growing out of walls! Take action for nature by planting a mini-meadow in a window box or create a container pond!

Mike concludes: “The poll found that very few of us enjoy wild places at lunchtime. With the pressure on at work, it’s easy to get stuck behind your desk. 30 Days Wild has lots of ideas for helping make nature part of your work life, as well as at home: less screen time, more green time!”

Among those taking the 30 Days Wild challenge this year is Amy Williams OBE, Olympic Gold Medallist, TV presenter and public speaker. She says: “I have always been passionate about wildlife and looking after the world we live in. I’ve been lucky to go on some amazing wild adventures all around the world, but my love of nature began at home. Some of the greatest adventures happen in your everyday life. 30 Days Wild is perfect for me; it combines my love of being outdoors and staying active with my creative side, too. I can’t wait to get involved!”

The impact of taking part in 30 Days Wild has been tracked by academics at the University of Derby. Their study* found that people who did something ‘wild’ each day for a month, felt happier, healthier and more connected to nature, with added benefits for the natural world too.

Dr Miles Richardson, Director of Psychology, who led the study, said:
“The impact of 30 Days Wild adds to the compelling argument for bringing nature into our everyday lives. Two months after taking part in 30 Days Wild, there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of people who reported their health as excellent. Last year’s results also show people’s happiness continued to improve after 30 Days Wild ended, which illustrates its sustained impact. This is important as it is happiness and connecting with nature that influence improvements in health. Our study also shows that those who benefitted most were younger adults and those who weren’t ‘nature lovers’.”

Take the 30 Days Wild Nature Challenge • Can you go wild every day for a whole month? Take the 30 Days Wild nature challenge this June with The Wildlife Trusts.

• Spend a few minutes, or a few hours each day enjoying nature on your doorstep - how you do it is up to you. Get a free 30 Days Wild pack - activities, wildflower seeds, chart, and stickers (or download a pack without seeds). Schools can download specially tailored packs to support teachers, including outdoor lesson plans for literacy and numeracy, activity sheets and a large pack of Random Act of Wildness cards.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .