About Urban Nature Action CIC

We are a community interest company dedicated to protecting and celebrating urban biodiversity. Through citizen science, community learning and hands-on habitat creation, we help transform overlooked urban green spaces into thriving havens for wildlife and places where people can reconnect with nature.

Helping people discover, protect and celebrate the wildlife living all around them.

My Story

My mother had a profound impact on my love for ecology from a very young age. She patiently taught me to identify all the tree species in the UK, as well as the various birds and mammals we encountered. Together, we spent countless joyful hours on long walks, taking the time to observe the fascinating water-boatmen, pond-skaters, and other small creatures.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in the countryside, surrounded by centuries-old hedgerows. As a child, I played in ditches, chased frogs and newts, and immersed myself in the study of invertebrates and plants. I vividly remember family car rides when the windscreen would end up speckled with insect splats. Back then, it was simply a part of life, but now it serves as a poignant reminder of the drastic changes we've witnessed in our insect populations.

Over the years, I've grown increasingly aware of the destruction of the familiar hedgerows and orchards of my childhood. I've seen gardens that once flourished with vibrant flowers, birds, and insects transformed into parking lots and low-maintenance patios. It’s not due to lack of care or passion, but rather the pressures of modern life that leave many people with limited time, energy, and resources. This realisation has made me understand that if we truly want wildlife to thrive alongside us, supporting people is just as vital as supporting nature.

Throughout my life, I have been a witness to the changes in our countryside. The once-familiar sounds of lapwings and skylarks are becoming increasingly rare. As a child, I never encountered a buzzard, but now they are becoming a more common sight in the sky. Each time I see one, I can't help but feel grateful for the presence of these magnificent birds.

My passion for ecology and conservation has always burned brightly. Once I became a mother and then a grandmother, I realised that action needed to be taken. The thought that my grandchildren may never experience the sight of a corncrake in a field or hear a swift soaring above filled me with determination to raise my voice. The pandemic provided me with a rare opportunity for reflection and change. I decided to return to college to pursue my passion and make a difference for the things I love that seem to be fading away.

I enrolled in a Level 3 Conservation and Wildlife Management course at Reaseheath College. Although I had previously studied photography and art many years ago, the prospect of being the oldest in my class initially made me apprehensive. However, I was met with such warmth and support that I quickly found my footing and gained valuable knowledge and confidence. I was thrilled to achieve Distinction stars and was offered a place in the BSc (Hons) in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology at Reaseheath University Centre, advancing into the fifth year. It was truly a remarkable experience, enriched by amazing tutors and brilliant classmates. I graduated, proud to have earned a first-class honours degree.

My beautiful Mother, Margaret

Meet the Founder.

I'm Leaf, the founder of Urban Nature Action CIC and an ecologist with a lifelong passion for wildlife, education and community.

Why did I start Urban Nature Action CIC?

Whilst studying ecology I noticed there a lack of research exploring urban wildlife populations and biodiversity and those that existed told a very sad tale indeed, of biodiversity loss at a great rate.

With approximately 86% of people in the UK living in urban areas, for many of us, our interaction with nature often occurs in parks, gardens, canals, street trees, and the green spaces right outside our homes, rather than in far-off nature reserves. This highlights how crucial it is to protect and celebrate the wildlife in our towns, villages and cities. Our connection to these urban environments can greatly enhance our well-being, making it even more important to cherish and nurture the natural world around us.

Urban bird populations for example have declined by around 15% between 2005 and 2017, that's 12 years! Species such as House sparrows have declined by around 71% since the late 1970s. With Starlings becoming one of the fastest declining urban bird species dropping 80% since the 1960s, and swifts, declining 70% since the mid 1990s.

All this decline is largely due to loss of nesting sites, and reductions of flying insects and the habitats which ones supported them, such as gardens, wild patches of parkland etc. Demonstrated and can be seen by the example of the "windscreen phenomenon"; far fewer insects splattering on car windscreens than a few decades ago. Scientific studies support a substantial decline in insect abundance in many places, although the amount varies between species and locations.

Urban hedgehogs have declined significantly over recent decades, although in some towns and cities there are encouraging signs that populations are stabilising or even increasing where people create wildlife-friendly gardens and "hedgehog highways."

Many common wildflowers have disappeared from roadsides, parks and gardens due to the creation of driveways, every paved garden means fewer flowers for bees, fewer places for birds and hedgehogs to find food and shelter, and less soil to absorb rainfall. Changes in mowing, development, herbicide use and the loss of traditional meadows. Even small patches of flowering plants can make a huge difference for pollinators.

Older mature and sometimes ancient trees are often lost to development, disease or safety concerns. Yet they're some of our richest habitats, supporting birds, bats, insects, fungi and lichens all at once.

Artificial lighting has transformed our towns. While lighting has many benefits, excessive or poorly directed lighting can affect bats, moths and other nocturnal wildlife.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues isn't that wildlife has nowhere to live, it's that habitats are increasingly isolated. A hedgehog trying to move between gardens, or a butterfly trying to reach the next flower-rich patch, often has to cross barriers such as fences, roads or large paved areas or just traverse expansive distances.

Nature may not have vanished; instead, it has found a way to exist in the small, often overlooked spaces around us. Our parks, gardens, canals, churchyards, road verges, and even the tiniest patches of wildflowers have grown to be vital sanctuaries for wildlife. It's a poignant reminder of how much we need to cherish and protect these little havens amid our busy lives.

The issues are not just concerning wildlife and nature. Today many people know fewer of their neighbours than previous generations. This can cause less trust, a reduce sense of belonging, and less support in difficult times.

Many children now spend far less time exploring nature than previous generations. Which can mean fewer opportunities for curiosity, reduction in outdoor confidence, less understanding of wildlife, fewer positive childhood memories of nature.

Just as fragmentation affects wildlife and nature, it also affects human populations: as green spaces become more fragmented or built on, or as those spaces become less socially welcoming, people meet each other less, communities become fragmented, and opportunities for informal in-person social contact are greatly reduced.

But honestly it isn't all doom and gloom! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! By creating wildlife-friendly gardens, parks and neighbourhoods, we can help reverse that trend; one community at a time. With people reporting an increasing sense of isolation, Urban Nature Action CIC can provide, friendships, purpose, routine, shared experiences and connection.

The good news is that nature and humans are remarkably resilient. With the right habitats, greener neighbourhoods and communities working together, wildlife and communities can recover. Every wildflower planted, every garden managed for nature, every nest box installed, and every person who learns to notice the wildlife around them is part of that recovery. Every connection made with another human and every friendship brings us all closer to a happier nation. These small changes, repeated thousands of times across our towns and cities, have a profound impact on both wildlife and the places we live.

Urban Nature Action CIC isn't just about protecting wildlife.

It's about creating healthier communities where people know their neighbours, children grow up exploring nature, volunteers discover new skills, and everyone has the opportunity to experience the wildlife living around them.

When nature thrives, communities thrive too.