A Welcoming Space
What?
Creating a welcoming space for wildlife means making your garden or grounds safe, healthy and accessible for all species — including people. By reducing chemicals, keeping water clean, and protecting the peace of night, you’ll help ensure that every living thing can share the Island’s spaces in safety.
Where?
Everywhere: in gardens, schools, farms, community spaces, and business sites. From the centre of Newport to the coastal edges of Yarmouth or Ventnor, each outdoor area can offer a haven for nature if managed with care.
How?
Avoid pesticides and herbicides. Choose manual or natural weed control methods and support soil health instead.
Prevent pollution. Avoid washing or rinsing chemicals, paints, or composts into drains — they flow straight into our rivers and coastal waters.
Manage pets and visitors considerately. Keep dogs to paths during bird-nesting season and provide shallow escape routes in ponds or troughs for small animals.
Reduce lighting at night. Darker gardens help nocturnal wildlife — and you — rest better.
Provide safe water. Add pebbles or ramps to ponds, troughs and buckets so hedgehogs, bees, and amphibians can climb out easily.
Plant a mix of native and non-invasive ornamentals. Diverse planting makes the space beautiful and beneficial for wildlife.
Include people. Add seating, signs, or small interpretation boards so others can learn, watch, and enjoy wildlife too.
When?
All year round. A welcoming space grows through small, regular acts of care — reducing disturbance in spring and summer, topping up water in dry months, and cleaning feeders and water dishes through winter.
Why?
A welcoming space connects people to nature, improves wellbeing, and brings daily contact with the living systems we depend on. These small refuges build into an island-wide network of nature recovery, helping the Isle of Wight’s Biosphere thrive for generations.
Actions for Isle of Wight Species
Hedgehogs benefit from chemical-free gardens with safe water sources and passage gaps.
Pollinators thrive where pesticides are avoided and native flowers are abundant.
Amphibians use clean ponds with gentle slopes to drink and breed safely.
Bats and moths flourish when gardens stay dark after dusk.
Birds rely on clean feeders and safe nesting areas free from disturbance or toxins.
Resources
RHS – Gardening Without Pesticides
Wildlife Trusts – Wildlife Gardening Code
Bat Conservation Trust – Lighting for Bats
Freshwater Habitats Trust – Clean Water for Wildlife
Island Nature – Local Action for Nature