Section 5.f. "Smaller-Scale Rewilding: A Practical Guide to Restoring Nature in Your Own Space"
'Community Engagement and Advocacy' - the latest section of LettsSafari's guide to smaller-scale rewilding.
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Community Engagement and Advocacy
An individual’s rewilding effort can become a seed for wider change in the community. Engaging others not only multiplies impact but also creates a support network for you and nature. Here are ways to involve and inspire community:
Share Your Story: Talk to friends and neighbours about what you’re doing and why. Often, they’ll be curious when they see your garden growing wild. Use that as an opening to explain the benefits (more butterflies, helping bees, reducing flooding, etc.). Sometimes a simple conversation can change a neighbour’s perspective and they might leave a patch of their lawn unmown too. Social media is another avenue – post photos of blooms and butterflies, mention achievements (“spotted 5 species of bee today in my little meadow!”). Positivity is contagious.
Open Your Garden (or site): If feasible, host an open day or tour. Garden clubs or neighbours might come to see what a rewilded garden looks like. Many people have never seen a planned wild garden and will be pleasantly surprised by how beautiful and alive it is. If you feel up to it, participate in garden open schemes or host a small gathering in your wild space. Seeing is believing - once they see kids chasing butterflies or hear birdsong in your yard, they’ll understand the appeal.
School and Youth Involvement: If you have children or a local school, get them involved. Kids love wildlife and are often enthusiastic ambassadors. You could coordinate with a teacher to have a class visit or do a project (like building insect hotels or doing a bug hunt in your garden). If a school has grounds, encourage them to set aside a wild learning area. Offer to help by sharing seeds or tips. Many schools now have eco-clubs who would jump at making a wildflower plot or pond. By educating kids, you create generational change; they might even ask their parents to rewild at home!
Community Projects: Perhaps expand your efforts beyond your property. Identify unloved corners in your area – an abandoned lot, edges of a playground, roadside verges - and propose rewilding them. You could start small: a group of neighbours agrees not to mow the verge on your street and instead sow wildflower seeds there. Maybe your apartment building has some landscaping that could be converted to a wild bed. Approach whoever is in charge (local council, homeowners association) with a friendly proposal. Highlight cost savings (less mowing, less replanting of annuals if perennials are used) and ecological benefits. Show examples of others doing this successfully like the one below in Wandsworth, London (councils often appreciate knowing it’s been done elsewhere with positive feedback). Offer volunteer help to implement or maintain if needed.
Form a Local Group: You might not be alone in your interest. Starting a neighbourhood rewilding group or wildlife gardening club can bring like-minded folks together. You can swap seeds, coordinate events, and lend each other tools or labour. Groups can have more influence when petitioning local authorities for changes (like reducing chemical use in parks or leaving some park areas wild). A collective voice is strong.
Celebrate and Publicise Wins: If a community rewilding effort yields something cool (like a rare butterfly spotted or a noticeable increase in birds), share that news. A piece in the community newsletter or local paper titled “Former vacant lot now teeming with wildlife” can really validate and excite. People love success stories, and media coverage can spur other communities to try it. Even a post on Nextdoor or community Facebook like “Check out the new wildflower verge on Oak Street - thanks to all who helped sow it!” can get neighbours interested.
Connect with Larger Networks: There are often national or global movements you can link up with. For example, participate in “No Mow May” and share your results using that hashtag. Join citizen science projects like butterfly counts or bird surveys to contribute data from your rewilded patch (this also proves its value). Sign up for newsletters of organisations like LettsSafari+, Rewilding Britain or Wild Ones (in the US) to stay inspired and informed. You might find grants or resources for community projects through these networks as well.
Be Patient and Positive in Advocacy: Not everyone will immediately agree with letting things go wild, especially if aesthetics or misconceptions stand in the way. Approach skeptics calmly, armed with facts (e.g., “Together, our gardens are larger than nature reserves and crucial for bees”. Sometimes compromise helps: maybe you promise the front yard will have a neat border while the back goes fully wild, to appease a concerned neighbour. Show them neat aspects - like a patch of wildflowers can be as colourful as any flowerbed. Over time, results speak for themselves. Often the person who complained about messiness in spring might compliment the lovely butterflies come summer.
Safari Garden Video Tour - Part 1
The video above takes you on a short tour of the lower rewilded gardens at Exeter’s Capability Brown gardens, a part of the LettsSafari Network of Parks. The lower gardens feature wild grasses and wild flowers surrounded by copses of magnolia, maple and willow trees. A new wetland area supports reeds and wild scrub.
Encourage Institutional Support: Advocate with your local council or city for policies that encourage rewilding. Many councils now have wildflower verge programs or offer free wildflower seeds to residents. If yours doesn’t, suggest it - perhaps through a letter or raising it in a community meeting. Push for pesticide bans on city property, or for an “urban meadow” trial in a park. If you show that citizens care, officials listen. Also see if local businesses might sponsor small rewilding projects (it’s good PR for them to fund a pollinator garden in a public space, for example).
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