Biodiversity in the City

Excerpted from The New Canadian Garden, 2016, Mark Cullen. All rights reserved. Published by Dundurn Press.

It’s no boreal forest, but the biodiversity that exists within urban environments is no less important than that which exists in rural or remote areas of the country. I believe it’s even more important to support the non-human life that shares these spaces.
Remember, they are only “urban” because we have built them up to be that way. Many of the species that lived here before we came along will have moved on and found new homes, especially those too large to occupy the remaining forest habitats. Some others have become extinct. But this does not mean we should ignore all of those who have stuck around.
In the next part of this chapter, I will discuss the diversity that Canadians are fortunate to experience and how it has changed with the emergence of large urban expanses. Keep in mind that the focus of this chapter is to help you understand biodiversity, and if you want to understand it, you can’t embrace the good stuff while sweeping under the rug the news that is hard to hear. There are many ways in which you, even condo owners, can support wildlife and
biodiversity in your community. Some of us just need a reason, and I’m here to give you one.

Read more in my new book ‘The New Canadian Garden’ available at independent book stores and Home Hardware.