There are, of course, big conversations to be had about climate policy, emissions and international action. Those matter enormously. But there are also legions of us who care deeply and yet are left with the same question: what can I actually do?
Nature writer Melissa Harrison has spent years exploring precisely this tension. Through her books, her beautifully observed Witness Marks newsletter and podcast, The Stubborn Light of Things, she argues against both complacent false hope and despair. Instead, she invites us to pay closer attention to the natural world immediately around us. Acknowledging that none of us can single-handedly solve the climate crisis, she nonetheless nudges us to the radical notion that every one of us can become a better steward of the place we call home.
None of us can stop a wildfire on the other side of the world. But we can make sure the patch of ground outside our own front door is a little more alive next year than it is today.
Here are some meaningful ways to start.
Read Melissa Harrison
Melissa Harrison's Witness Marks newsletter – particularly her essay A Little Patch of Ground – is a thoughtful antidote to both environmental guilt and helplessness. Rather than urging us to save the entire planet, she reminds us that our first responsibility is to know, love and care for the patch of earth closest to us.
Her podcast, The Stubborn Light of Things, is equally restorative, following the changing seasons with remarkable attention and reminding listeners that nature isn't something we visit on holiday, but something unfolding around us every single day. If you feel disconnected from nature – or indeed, quite the opposite and simply crave more ways of noticing it in your daily life – this is a wonderful place to start. Plus, her guests are always wonderful, the sorts of people who open up new ways of looking at the natural world.
Become The Custodian Of One Small Place
One of the simplest things you can do is adopt a patch of nature. It doesn't have to be your own garden. It could be the tree outside your flat, the verge at the end of your road, a neglected corner of your local park, a canal towpath or a stretch of woodland you walk through every weekend.
Pick up litter. Water a newly planted tree during drought. Learn what flowers there in spring and which birds arrive in autumn. The more familiar a place becomes, the more invested you become in its future.
Build A Wildlife Pond
If you do have a garden, few projects offer a greater boost to biodiversity than a pond. It needn't be grand. Even a small pre-formed pond or a washing-up bowl sunk into the ground can provide habitat for frogs, newts, dragonflies and countless insects, while giving birds somewhere to drink and bathe. It's one of the richest ecosystems you can create in even the smallest outdoor space.
Garden For Wildlife
The immaculate garden we've long aspired to isn't necessarily the one wildlife wants. Rather than spending all your time raking and sweeping, why not leave seed heads standing over winter, where they provide food for birds and shelter for overwintering insects? Alternatively – or in addition – allow one corner to grow a little wilder for pollinators and small mammals. Create a log pile to provide a home for beetles, fungi, hedgehogs and other creatures. Let fallen leaves gather beneath shrubs, where they insulate the soil and offer insects a safe place to shelter. Nature rarely thrives in tidiness; a little gentle untidiness can make all the difference – plus it means you more time sitting with a coffee to admire your thriving jungle.
Plant For Pollinators
By now, we all understand the importance of pollinators. To encourage more to your patch, choose nectar-rich flowers that bloom from early spring through to late autumn, ensuring bees, butterflies and hoverflies have food throughout the seasons. Early crocuses, lungwort and flowering currants provide one of the first vital food sources of the year, followed by foxgloves, alliums, catmint (Nepeta), lavender, salvias, verbena bonariensis and echinacea through summer. As autumn approaches, asters, sedums and ivy flowers continue to feed insects long after many other plants have finished. Native species such as oxeye daisy, knapweed, field scabious and wild marjoram are particularly valuable, supporting the insects and birds that have evolved alongside them.
Give Wildlife Somewhere To Live
Food is only part of the story; you can also create homes, too. Install a hedgehog house beneath a hedge. Put up a bird box suitable for your local species. Add a bee hotel for solitary bees such as mason bees, which are remarkable pollinators and entirely harmless. If you can, leave small gaps beneath fences so hedgehogs can roam between gardens.
Become A Citizen Scientist
One of the most hopeful ways to help is simply to start recording what you see. The Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar project invites people across the UK to record seasonal events, from the first snowdrops and swallows of spring to autumn leaves, blackberries and fungi. Collectively, these observations help scientists understand how our changing climate is affecting Britain's wildlife. Choose one tree or hedgerow you pass every day and watch it through the seasons. Your observations become part of one of the longest biological records in the world.
Join A Conservation Group
No garden? No problem – you don't need one to make a difference. The RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and many local councils run volunteer days where you can help restore habitats, clear invasive species, plant hedgerows or improve local nature reserves.
You might also explore courses and workshops through organisations such as the RHS, Field Studies Council or your local Wildlife Trust, covering everything from bird identification and pond creation to wildlife gardening and botanical recording. Learning more often leads naturally to doing more.
Reduce Chemicals
One of the simplest gifts you can give wildlife is to avoid pesticides and slug pellets wherever possible. Healthy gardens depend on balance. Ladybirds eat aphids. Frogs eat slugs. Hedgehogs and birds help keep countless pests under control. The less we interfere, the more resilient these natural relationships become.
Share Nature With Someone Else
Perhaps the most powerful thing we can pass on is curiosity, especially to the younger generation, who will also benefit enormously in a myriad of ways both mental and physical from time spent in the great outdoors. So, why not try pond dipping with your child and spend time identifying the creatures great and small that make up an ecosystem? Or, you could try learning birdsong together and then, as the years roll on, take pleasure in recognising it year after year. Show someone the first swifts returning in May or the glow of autumn fungi after rain.
FAQs
What's the single best thing I can do for wildlife in my garden?
Creating a wildlife pond is widely considered one of the biggest boosts to biodiversity you can make. Even a small pond quickly attracts insects, amphibians and birds.
I don't have a garden. Can I still help?
Absolutely. Volunteer with a local conservation group, record wildlife through Nature's Calendar, help care for a local green space or simply learn more about the plants and animals where you live.
Are bee hotels actually useful?
Yes, particularly for solitary species such as mason bees. Position them somewhere warm and sheltered, keep them clean and remember that they're most effective alongside nectar-rich planting.
How can children get involved?
Children are natural observers. Nature journalling, birdwatching, pond dipping, butterfly counts and seasonal recording through Nature's Calendar are all excellent ways to foster curiosity and care.
Where can I learn more?
Melissa Harrison's Witness Marks newsletter and The Stubborn Light of Things podcast are wonderful places to begin. The Woodland Trust, RSPB, RHS, Wildlife Trusts and Field Studies Council all offer excellent resources, events and courses for beginners.
