 This small park in inner Melbourne looks like a natural woodland and it supports a diverse mix of native birdlife We would all benefit from making our cities and towns nature positive With more than 90% of Australians now living in cities and towns, some important questions about restoring urban environments have managed to push-up through the pavement, amidst the engine roar of busses and cars, the rumble of trains and the clink of coffee cups. Amidst this background noise of hectic human activity, is it possible to restore nature to urban environments and what would a more natural and inclusive urban landscape look like? I’m imagining quieter, leafier and more picturesque towns and cities that are healthy places for both humans and Australian wildlife to live. These may bear very little resemblance to the forests and woodlands that were cleared to make way for urban development. Rewilding urban green spaces is more likely to be a process of reimagining and recreating healthy landscapes that suit modern living, while accommodating a diversity of Australian wildlife, even species that are endangered in the wild. Does this sound like an impossible dream?  Reimagining & recreating nature positive city landscapes. This park in the US state of Washington was once a cemetery In this series of blogs, I want to open a discussion about bringing nature back to our cities and towns, and explore what we can do to support wildlife in our urban backyards, streets and parklands. Part 1. How we would benefit from rethinking the landscapes of our cities and towns to be more inclusive of nature? Part 2. How to design urban gardens that attract native wildlife? I'll explore what these wildlife habitats would like, plus the where and the how. Part 3. Ten beautiful and resilient indigenous shrubs that would grace any home garden and bring back useful native insects and wonderful communities of small birds.  Particulate filled air (soot, dust, smokes, fumes) blanketing Parliament House, Canberra. They are 'magically' cleaned by natures Ecological Services. Image - Monash University website How do we benefit? Nature provides Ecological Services (ES's) that we depend on every day. What's an ES? Do you remember when you were growing up, your parents/guardians washed your clothes, put food on the table and maintained a safe home environment. Mostly this happened without you being aware of it. Your parents/guardians were providing 'home-based ecological services.' Their discreet efforts kept the home environment ticking over, its residents healthy, warm, safe and fed. (Note: Ecology, from the Greek oikos for house/home, is the study of homes and relationships in nature). In a similar way, nature provides these ‘discreet’ services in the outside environment to maintain nature’s many homes and relationships. Nature’s ecological services are on a huge scale because they need to maintain the vital needs of all lifeforms on this planet. Included below are 20 ecological services (ES) that healthy biodiverse ecosystems can provide to urban communities. These ES’s are dispersed through Part 1 in consumable bites.
 Black roofs and no shade in an outer suburb of Melbourne, a health risk to the vulnerable in our communities. image - reddit.com These ES's happen quietly, as if magically, without us lifting a finger, though we deeply depend on them, just as we once depended on the help and support of our parents/guardians when we were children. Providing all these ecological services in cities and towns where we need them, as well as in forests and woodlands hundreds of kilometers away, would benefit all city dwellers. You can likely appreciate how much healthier our urban environments would be if these services were 'on tap,' happening immediately around us. Sadly our native fauna and the services that they provide are being pushed further away from where we live by the ever expanding high density tree-deprived suburbs. These newer suburbs don’t have much room for gardens, with the added foolishness of houses with black roofs which are recognised heat sinks, up to 10 degrees warmer on hot days, which is dangerous for the vulnerable in our communities. A recent study by researchers from Griffith University & University of Queensland confirmed declining small bird populations in Brisbane due to poor urban design; ‘We examined 82 bird species across 42 landscape types in Brisbane. The range of landscapes encompassed parks, bushland reserves, and industrial and residential areas. Our findings were clear: urbanisation, particularly the increase in built infrastructure and the loss of green spaces, was linked to a decline in the bird communities we find most attractive.’ (Oh & Suarez-Castro, 2024) Four more ecological services nature provides:  A newly planted nature strip of indigenous plants attracting insects, honeyeaters and onlookers The beauty in biodiverse native gardens is good for us Gardens are uplifting, particularly when they support wildlife. It’s pleasing when we see beautiful flowers on a banksia or bottlebrush but when we see a honeyeater hanging upside-down precariously feeding on the nectar, our endorphins are multiplied many fold. If you have been following the steady growth of research on the many health benefits through contact with nature, you already know it's very important to us. Here are two interesting examples of this research; ‘Biodiverse nature has particular positive benefit for mental well-being. Multi-sensory elements such as bird or frog sounds or wildflower smells have well-documented beneficial effects on mental restoration, calm and creativity.’ (Zoe Myers, Australian Urban Design Research Centre, the University of WA) 'Recent research has shown beneficial effects to our lung microbiome when we live within 300 metres of natural areas.' (ABC Health Report, August 17th 2024) After watching the nightly news we definitely need some calming influences and it’s good for our mental health to be reminded that the world is a wonderful place after all. We have an insatiable need for good news stories about people and their gardens. To satisfy our thirst for garden related stories there are at least 8 monthly magazines on newsagent shelves providing sweet sips of gardening inspiration.
 An urban forest of canopy trees, should include areas of shrubs to provide homes for small birds Gardens moderate our living environment The global ‘urban forest’ movement recognises that our cities will need more shade in the future to be liveable, particularly when Meteorologists agree that weather extremes are on the increase. For example, Melbourne has plans to increase the tree cover in its city streets and parks to 40% by 2040 and Sydney, more conservatively, has opted for only 27% tree cover by 2050. In Western Australia, the Urban Greening Grant Program is providing $3.75 million to support additional tree and understorey planting for their 33 Local Governments. So at least the powers that be recognise the important role of trees in cooling our living environment. Adding more shade trees is wonderful, though native shrubs and understorey plants also moderate the weather. They provide shelter from hot and cold winds near ground level, which is where we spend most of our time. They also provide much needed habitat for the many species of native insect and small bird that seem to have been forgotten in the urban forest concept. Is it really an Australian urban 'forest' if there is little or no Australian wildlife?
 The Gibraltar Range Waratah, (Telopea aspera) is now on the threatened species list. Image - University of New England Providing homes for threatened and endangered flora and fauna is becoming more important with the continued clearing of native vegetation in every State (and no, it’s not slowing down). We now have 2,224 species and ecosystems on the Federal threatened list and the number is growing every year. ‘They took all the trees put 'em in a tree museum, and they charged the people a dollar an' a half just to see 'em.’ The ring of truth to Joni Mitchell’s Yellow Taxi lyrics from 1970 is getting louder each year. Planting 'exhibits' of threatened species, like the Gibraltar Range Waratah’s (Telopea aspera), in our own gardens to protect them from extinction may seem a radical suggestion but at least we would save them from being completely lost to future generations. Providing homes in our cities and towns for the many threatened native plants could also become a source of rare seed that would be available to re-establish lost rural populations in the future. As an added benefit, the Waratah's magnificent red flowers may inspire you to write poetry as would the other members of the protea family; banksia, grevillea, hakea, isopogan, leucadendron. They are also magnets to honeyeaters, beneficial insects, gliders and small possums and can be combined with other native plants to imitate biodiverse natural environments that will support a diversity of native wildlife. Three more ecological services nature provides:  The Koala is endangered in Qld, NSW and ACT Tourism is built on a foundation of unique wildlife These disappearing plants and animals are unique to our country and attract overseas tourists who travel long distances to experience something unique. To smell the scent of eucalyptus in a Mountain Ash forest (now critically endangered in the central highlands), to see a Koala sleeping in the fork of a tree (now endangered in Qld, NSW and ACT) and to hear the most beautiful and unique birdsong in the world in a woodland or forest anywhere in Australia (now over one quarter of Australian bird species are considered threatened). What dollar value should a nation put on these Australian icons and to protect the natural landscapes that they live in? Perhaps the dollars lost to the tourism industry is a stronger motivator for governments to take meaningful action. We seem unaware that we are slowly losing a billion dollar industry as well as 'nature', which Sir David Attenborough describes as 'the life blood of our society.' Joni Mitchel's prophetic words from 'Yellow Taxi' once more... 'Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone They paved paradise, put up a parking lot (Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop,...)' Four more ecological services nature provides:  Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) Photo. David Cook Connecting with nature Inviting birds, insects, gliders and possums back to our cities and towns (and learning to live with them - it was once their undisputed home) requires thoughtful landscape design that can also provide the opportunity for a deeper connection with nature. This is often experienced as a source of joy and enriched wellbeing. It can also provide opportunities for creative inspiration in work and play that are declining as we retreat into our urban ‘ivory towers.’ Sophie lives in a Victorian town. She’d like to share this moment of inspiration from her garden; ‘I love watching the Red-browed Finches in my garden, they land on the wallaby grasses and ride the flower-heads to the ground where they carefully pick out the seeds.’ We've each had moments of connection with nature in our home gardens and natural places. These stories shine a light on the potential benefits of nature positive urban revegetation which would re-establish a closeness with nature that is very important to health and wellbeing. To read more about this topic; https://www.recreatingthecountry.com.au/blog/connecting-with-nature-a-journey-into-mindfulness If you have a story to share, I’d love to include it in my next post. There is a better way... We don’t have to lose this important connection with wildlife in our urban centres. Our own gardens can play an important part and there are lots of public grassy spaces in streets, parks and gardens and even cemeteries that could conveniently and safely be repurposed to provide layers of biodiversity as well as cooling shade and shelter from hot & cold winds. It’s a matter of reimagining the spaces that we already have, to creatively make them nature positive to provide for the multiple needs all of the planets species, not just Homo sapiens.  A future blog will look at the how and the where
of designing gardens to make urban places nature positive to bring back Australian wildlife
4 Comments
18/10/2024 09:35:37 am
A terrific article/series, Stephen. You may have seen this article in the Conversation https://theconversation.com/how-we-created-a-beautiful-native-wildflower-meadow-in-the-heart-of-the-city-using-threatened-grassland-species-240332
Steve
18/10/2024 11:37:55 am
Hi Helen, 26/4/2025 02:48:49 am
Excellent service from start to finish. They listened to what I wanted and came up with a beautiful, energy-efficient solution for our garden. 17/7/2025 04:43:59 am
Jake Baturynsky Gardens creates stunning custom landscapes that truly elevate outdoor spaces—each design feels both personal and professionally crafted! Leave a Reply. |
'RECREATING the COUNTRY'
Ten key principles for designing sustainable landscapes Second edition Updated & expanded Click on the image below to read more 
Stephen Murphy is an author and ecologist. He has worked as a nurseryman and designer of natural landscapes for over 30 years. He loves the bush, actively supporting Landcare and conservation initiatives throughout Australia
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