According to the WHO report, wild nature offers numerous ecosystem services such as water purification, oxygen production, pollination, or soil generation. It also has positive impact on people’s wellbeing. Unfortunately, wild nature often deteriorates in urban areas and is replaced with buildings. This topic also polarises inhabitants, like in the example of a meadow in Zakrzówek, Kraków. Some see the need for protecting this place, while others want to turn it into a football pitch.
We will address these problems by working with local communities to regenerate wild areas in three deteriorated locations in an urban (Kraków), an urban and rural (Wieprzec) and a rural (Węgrzce) commune, where the topic divides the local community. We will train inhabitants on the qualities of wild nature and ways in which it can be protected. We will organise a series of mini trips showing the value of wild nature, combined with collection of seeds from areas threatened by urbanisation, which will later on be sewn in our own gardens. Participants will include adults and children living in the above communes. Each trip will be crowned with an integration picnic. We will also prepare a guide on interventions and best practices of environmental protection.
Our partner is Ogólnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptaków that will be responsible for regenerating the deteriorated meadow in Zakrzówek and will write a guide with us. The partner will also organise a webinar on interventions for nature.