Media call: for immediate release
Saving Kennington's House Sparrow:
Model houses for ‘common’ Victorian given model garden for
‘common’ Sparrow
Report to: Prince Consort Lodge,
When:
A model garden that will help bring back the well-loved (and once common) House Sparrow will be planted at Prince Albert’s ‘model cottages for labouring classes’, designed for the Great Exhibition of 1851, now home to the headquarters of national charity, Trees for Cities, in Kennington Park, South London.
According to a recent report by the RSPB, the House Sparrow is in decline partly due to homeowners paving over grass for parking, cutting down trees, and introducing alien or evergreen species. Without the insects that lived in the gardens, sparrows can starve.
Graham Simmonds, Chief Executive of national charity Trees for Cities says “The decline of the House Sparrow due to paving over gardens is tragic indeed. Our charity works to restore green spaces in cities where biodiversity is at a minimum - yet our own backyard is currently lacking diversity. With the help of community volunteers, we’re leading by example and making a model garden. Just as the model houses influenced Victorian family life at home, we hope to encourage families in the garden and help bring back biodiversity in our towns and cities.”
The garden is funded by Biffaward. Programme Manager, Gillian French, says “creating a model garden for a historical building designed for the inner cities is representative of the important work Trees for Cities does to green the urban environment. By planting a cottage/woodland garden with seasonal interest that attracts birds such as the House Sparrow, we encourage a greener and healthier society”.
Trees for Cities has been busy greening up spaces throughout the UK this year (not only in its back garden) and is tonight due to be presented with a Bank of America 2008 Neighbourhood Excellence Initiative Award. It was also recently short-listed for both a Visit London Award and a Green Award for Creativity in Sustainability for its popular annual Tree-Athalon event.
Photos/filming opportunities
∙ Trees for Cities staff, community volunteers, Biffaward staff, Friends of Kennington Park planting trees, shrubs, and flowers and installing bird boxes; Prince Albert’s ‘model houses’ provide background.
Interview/Recording opportunities
∙ Graham Simmonds, Chief Executive of Trees for Cities, discussing importance of biodiversity and increasing green spaces in urban communities around
∙ residents and project partners speaking about changing gardening habits
All media and interview enquiries
∙ Kate Shepherd, tel: 020 7820 4426 mob: 07971 782627, email: kate.shepherd@treesforcities.org
Notes to Editors
∙ House Sparrows’ supper lives in leaf litter, shrubs, grasses and perennial plants; they nest in dense ivy. The Trees for Cities model garden will include all of the above, plus a dinner of ground beetles (found foraging in the native plant Asplenium scolopendrium -Hart’s tongue) and pollen (from Kniphofia – Red Hot Poker). For more information about the House Sparrow’s habitat, please see www.plantpress.com
∙ Trees for Cities is an independent charity working with local communities on tree-planting and landscaping projects. It aims to tackle global warming, create social cohesion and beautify cities through tree planting, community education and training initiatives in urban areas of greatest need. Trees for Cities has worked in
∙ The ‘model cottages for the labouring classes’ were designed for The Great Exhibition of 1851 by British architect Henry Roberts (1803–1876), a pioneer in the improvement of working-class housing.
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∙ In 1997 Biffa Waste Services agreed to donate landfill tax credits to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) to administer under the fund name Biffaward. Grants made from the fund currently amount to £100 million, supporting many worthwhile projects.
Biffa Waste Services Limited is one of the largest single suppliers of waste management services in the
The landfill tax came into operation in 1996. Its purpose is to reflect the impact of landfill on the environment and also to help achieve the targets for more sustainable waste management. The tax, levied on the tonnage of all material disposed of in landfill sites and collected by Biffa on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs, aims to encourage recycling and reduce waste by raising the cost of disposal.
The regulations allow landfill site operators to direct approximately 6% of the tax they have collected towards approved environmental projects. However, any approved project can only receive 90% of its desired funding from the landfill tax. The remainder must come direct from the landfill site operator or from a third party organisation or company.
Kate Shepherd
Press Co-ordinator
Trees for Cities
020 7820 4426
Please note that I am not in the office on Fridays. For all press enquiries please contact Michael Tiritas by email: michael@treesforcities.co.uk; tel: 020 7587 1320.
1 comment:
The House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, is actually not a sparrow at all but a weaver finch introduced to this country from Europe. The male is easily identified by its black throat and chest, which makes him appear as if he is wearing a bib. The female is much harder to discern and can easily be confused with fox, song and field sparrows, to name only a few.
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