Straight lines, extensive paving and parking, plastic lawns. All help us to keep things ordered and neat, but these things can be incredibly damaging for our wildlife. Our deep-seated urge to control nature stems back hundreds of thousands of years back to a time when we literally had to keep the wolf from the (cave) door. Times have changed but in evolutionary terms this is a blink of an eye: despite kicking the unfortunate wolf away, well beyond the threshold, we still have the urge to control and order life. 

The difference now, of course, is that we are largely in control. Times a million neat and controlling-inspired actions create profound and negative impacts on our wildlife. If we truly want to reverse the declines in many our native species, of which 60% are currently declining, then we need a fundamental change in our philosophy. Whilst putting up nest boxes and feeding the birds make us feel better and can certainly help, what we really need to do is relax and let a bit of ‘wild chaos’ into our lives. Messy areas, piles of leaves, long grass, dead wood, brambles and thick bushes, all are wild messy chaos that we need to love and appreciate more. In being more relaxed you can also take time to begin to appreciate the wildlife moving into ‘your’ space.

On a bigger scale, Suffolk Wildlife Trust has been taking this more relaxed approach at Black Bourn Valley Nature Reserve, taking fields out of arable farming and allowing nature to take over. The first field was left to begin 'wilding' twenty years ago and is now an impenetrable thicket of hawthorn, blackthorn and dog rose – perfect for blackcap and other warblers in summer and flocks of redwing and fieldfare in winter. In open grassy patches pyramidal and common spotted orchid have sprung up of their own accord as well as plants such as common centaury.

Near the riverside meadows, land too wet for farming has been fenced off and lightly grazed by cattle. A series of new ponds have been created and left to regenerate naturally. Thanks to monitoring by volunteers, 17 Nationally Notable and Local Notable aquatic invertebrates have been identified as well as the Nationally Scarce Tassell Stonewort. The Freshwater Habitats Trust has designated the reserve a Flagship Pond Site because of its rich variety of ponds.

The success of nature in reclaiming these ‘wilded’ areas led to the decision to cease arable farming altogether in 2017. Fields have been left to revert naturally and at present are dominated by plants such as bristly oxtongue and thistle which attract yellowhammer, linnet and goldfinch while skylark can be seen hovering above the open fields. 

Over time, grasses will become more dominant and bramble and scrub creep in from the adjoining hedgerows. The underlying soil conditions are revealing unexpected patterns of development and so creating a mosaic of transitional habitats from open grassland to dense stands of scrub. Reptiles such as slow worm and grass snake have colonised these new habitats.

Alongside the Black Bourn the riverside meadows are lightly grazed and new wetland habitats have been created. In winter the waters of the Black Bourn once again spill out across the meadows - as it would have done for generations –attracting flocks of teal and gadwall and feeding snipe on the watery edges. If you are very lucky you might even spot a secretive otter sometimes seen on the grazing marshes and ditches.

The benefits of giving nature more space are clear. Former arable fields can become rich in wildlife when nature is allowed to take the lead. This approach works in gardens and community spaces, too, where we can all play our part in creating a wilder Suffolk.