Britain's love of green spaces and wildfire is increasing and one-in-three of the nation is giving nature a helping hand, a new research report has found.
The PlantforLife campaign, run by the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) has launched its 2011 environment report to examine just how green the nation’s gardens and gardeners are, and how attitudes and behaviour towards the environment and greener gardening have changed in recent years.
The report builds on a nationwide survey conducted by PlantforLife in 2007 to find out how concerned we are about the environment, and provides a snapshot of gardening in Britain today.
The latest research shows that there have been some positive improvements in levels of awareness over the past four years when it comes to understanding the role that gardening and planting plays in environmental sustainability.
The report's key findings, include:
• 92% of people surveyed agreed that they felt it was important to have flowers, shrubs and trees grown in built up areas.
• 17% of people recognise the benefits of growing plants in the built environment compared to only 9% four years ago.
But, according to the report, there's still a long way to go:
• 56% of people still only recognise the aesthetic benefits of plants – however this is compared to 69% back in 2007.
One of the most significant improvements in UK gardens has been providing for wildlife with one in three people doing things specifically to encourage wildlife into the garden – this is an increase of a third on four years ago.
The report highlights the key issues that face the future of our gardens and the environment, and contains tips from expert gardener Chris Collins to help improve the nation's green credentials and protect the environment for generations to come.
Andrew Maxted, HTA Director of Marketing and Communications, comments “It’s encouraging to see a positive shift in perceptions of gardening and planting. Over the last four years we’ve seen more people taking action by increasingly doing more with their gardens; planting shrubs, flowers and trees and encouraging wildlife, insects and birds. The report highlights the huge role gardening has to play in improving our environment.”
Post a comment