Adventures in sustainable gardening

At first browse, A Vascular Plant Red List for England, published recently by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, hardly makes cheery reading. This latest trawl through the population status of every native and near-native British flowering plant, tree or fern identifies that almost 20 per cent of our species are now considered under threat of extinction, while upward of 140 are more vulnerable now than they were when the previous list was published 20 years ago. Despite decades of conservation projects, and huge effort put into spreading the word about the dangers of pollution, habitat loss and degradation, a paltry 11 species are doing better now than they were then.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login