Press releases

RHS launches appeal to encourage gardeners to support wildlife

The RHS is launching a major Spring Appeal focussed on biodiversity this week which aims to raise income to enable the UK’s leading gardening charity to carry out its charitable activities. The appeal will target 200,000 of the charity’s 360,000 members and has a fundraising target of £200,000.

RHS members living near the four RHS gardens - Wisley in Surrey, Hyde Hall in Essex, Harlow Carr in N Yorkshire and Rosemoor in Devon - will each receive information on biodiversity initiatives at their nearest RHS garden.

To make a donation, supporters can log on to www.rhs.org.uk/helpus or call the RHS Development Office on 020 7821 3125.

“You don’t have to let your garden go wild - it’s perfectly possible to grow beautiful plants while protecting habitats and the environment. Gardens have the potential to be a huge reserve, giving wildlife a priceless refuge from the impacts of habitat loss and climate change,” said Simon Thornton-Wood, Assistant Director of Science & Learning.

“By demonstrating sound sustainable gardening techniques and sharing information with gardeners to enable them to make informed choices about the way in which they garden, we can help to protect our environment for the long term.”

The RHS and The Wildlife Trusts launched a major project called Wild about Gardens on Tuesday 12 April at the RHS London Flower Show in Westminster. Wild About Gardens aims to bring the worlds of gardening and nature conservation closer together, to increase understanding of the significance of local wildlife character, celebrate what garden owners are already doing to support wildlife, and build on existing research into the wildlife potential of domestic gardens.

Several well-known faces have lent their support to the project by sharing their own experiences of gardening for wildlife including Kim Wilde, Richard Briers, Jessica Stevenson, Bill Oddie, Antony Worrall Thompson, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Raymond Blanc, Chris Beardshaw and David Bellamy. Diarmuid Gavin and Julia Carling attended a photocall at the project launch on 12 April.

For the first time, the project will provide an online forum at www.wildaboutgardens.org for people to share knowledge and inspiration related to wildlife in gardens, both locally and across the UK, enabling more people to make a positive contribution to biodiversity.

Over the next five years, the RHS will be undertaking studies into the distribution and ecology of valuable garden wildlife, increasing its work across RHS gardens to learn what works in attracting and sustaining garden wildlife, in order to better advise gardeners everywhere. The charity will also be developing a research programme with partners, to investigate the future place for nature in the urban environment: identifying how our gardens can help support wildlife as the pressure on space in our towns and cities increases.

Key facts

• In Britain alone, more than 600 species are ‘at risk’ and have shown a rapid decline in recent years
• 90% of Britain’s flower meadows have been lost
• More than 70% of British butterflies have declined in numbers over the last 20 years
• Gardens in the UK cover about 270,000 hectares of land - more than all the designated National Nature Reserves in the UK.

Following the launch of Wild about Gardens there will be a postcard survey carried out over spring and summer with the findings announced in the autumn. People can take part by picking up a postcard at an RHS garden, calling their local Wildlife Trust or downloading the card from the project website, www.wildaboutgardens.org. The website will also act as a forum for people to tell their garden stories and share their own experiences of local wildlife through online discussion boards.

A number of events related to wildlife gardening, from bug hunts to wildflower talks, will be happening at RHS gardens and local Wildlife Trusts across the UK throughout spring and summer.

Notes to Editors

For further information or images of the Spring Appeal, please contact Eli Smallwood in the RHS Press Office on 020 7821 3692 or e-mail: elismallwood@rhs.org.uk

Wildlife images are available to download for free from the PA Picselect website - click on the RHS folder at www.papicselect.com and look for ‘Wild About Gardens’

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. Its charitable work includes providing expert advice and information, advancing horticulture, training the next generation of gardeners, helping school children learn about plants, and conducting research into plants, pests and environmental issues affecting gardeners. The RHS has a membership of 360,000. For membership enquiries call 0845 130 4646.

www.rhs.org.uk/pressoffice

The RHS is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. RHS work includes providing expert advice and information, advancing horticulture, training the next generation of gardeners, helping school children learn about plants, and conducting research into plants, pests and environmental issues affecting gardeners.

An interest in gardening is all you need to enjoy being a member of the RHS. For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk or call 0845 130 4646.

Founded in 1804, the Royal Horticultural Society is Britain's largest gardening charity and is committed to being the leading organisation demonstrating excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening. Renowned for its outstanding gardens and inspirational flower shows, the RHS is a key source of advice and information for all gardeners. It encourages gardening through its publications, trials, lectures, education programmes and scientific research and is home to the Lindley Library, which contains the most comprehensive collection of horticultural books in the world.

Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society offers many exclusive benefits including a monthly copy of The Garden magazine; free entrance to RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor in Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex and Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire; free access to a further 88 beautiful gardens across Britain and 20 gardens in Belgium and France; access to seeds collected at RHS gardens; free gardening advice and privileged tickets to 18 RHS flower shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park.

For further enquiries about membership of the RHS contact: Membership Department, Royal Horticultural Society, PO Box 313, London SW1P 2PE; 0845 130 4646 Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm or via the RHS website

For more information e-mail the Press Office or visit the online Press Office