Langer Tag der Stadtnatur - Long day of city nature

For 26 hours in June, around 500 events took place all over Berlin that looked into the close relationship between city and nature. Over 200 experts, from gardeners to politicians, ecologists, herbalists, ornithologists and many others from different associations gave guided walks or talks to bring awareness of the wildlife and nature so close to us. It is an annual event organised and run voluntarily by the ‘Stiftung Naturschutz Berlin’ (translated as Conservation Nature Foundation Berlin).

The long day included guided walks, workshops in gardening and food production, animal and wildlife sightings, visits to intercultural and community gardens, urban herb walks and boat/canoe trips and trips to nature reserves and other green spaces that are normally closed off to the public.

I attended some events (in that short amount of time, one is pressed to choose wisely) and it was truly an eye- and ear-opening experience.

The area of Berlin consists of 40% green space, such as grassland, woodlands, parks, waterways, vacant lots, swamps and cemeteries. The diversity of biotopes and wildlife habitat attract a lot of different animals so perhaps surprisingly, the city houses and attracts more wildlife than some other areas in the countryside. On a boat trip on the Spree with Derk Ehlert, Berlin’s wildlife officer, we encounter numerous sea birds. One of them is the cormorant, one of the oldest still living animals whose ancestors reach back to the time of the dinosaurs. They are excellent divers and are often seen bathing in the sun with their wings widely spread as their wings take long to dry. We also saw or heard the chaffinch, blackbird, swan, house martin, mallard duck, common gull, coot, wood pigeon and common swift. One interesting way of knowing the time of year is to look which birds are currently visiting. For example, the common swift is a migratory bird that is usually only sighted in Northern Europe in the months of May and June before they move again. They spend most of their lifetime in the air, and eat, drink, mate and even sleep in the air and only touch ground for breeding.

Many animals have adapted to living in the city. The concrete buildings along the Spree in Treptow-Koepenick offer a perfect spot for some birds as a base for hunting and to build their nests. Other animals that call the city their home are the beaver, fox, raccoon and wild boars. But not always is their presence welcomed: There are around 100 beavers in Berlin moving along canals and rivers, and living in the Tiergarten (Zoological Garden), Treptower Park, and Schlosspark Charlottenburg. While conservationists celebrate the recovery of this once endangered animal, others are sceptical about the damage to old and young trees and shrubs.

Another major part of the event included visits and talks in intercultural and community gardens. In some community gardens in Berlin, people either tend their own plots (or more commonly, a raised bed) or they grow plants together and share the crop. The numbers of urban community gardens in Berlin is rising, as more and more people share the wish to take food production and consumption in their own hands. There are many benefits to gardening: It is not only a relaxing and calming activity, it also brings people together, skills are shared and discussed, and then there is the pleasure and delight in seeing plants grow from seed. One community garden is Allmende-Kontor, located in Tempelhof, the former airport, which attracts visitors to hang out and enjoy sitting next to various plants and flowers. There are around 250 raised beds and around 500 gardeners on 5000 qm of land. The garden is open to public with no fences or borders around it so the problems the garden mostly deals with are people who vandalise or disrespect the space, or children running around unattended and destroy carefully tended plants. Just a few hundred metres away, another smaller community garden is Prachttomate. Unlike Allmende-Kontor, the raised beds are tended and cared for by everyone and the harvest is shared. It exists since 2011, when a few people decided to turn a piece of wasteland into an ecological garden. It now also serves as a cultural meeting point for the neighbourhood. Like many other urban gardens, it is run by garden activists who view the ‘garden’ as a free space, full of potential and possibilities, cultural and social experiments and a statement for food sovereignty, solidarity with local, organic farmers and against agrar industries that destroy the earth, soil, animals, wildlife habitat. If one thinks about how many square metres of vacant, neglected wasteland there is in a city on a global level, there is indeed a lot of potential for more gardens, self-sufficiency and a 'green revolution'.

Sources:

https://2017.langertagderstadtnatur.de/
http://www.allmende-kontor.de/
https://www.prachttomate.de/
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/grossstadtnatur-wuehlarbeit-auf-der-wiese/14695204.html
http://www.berliner-kurier.de/berlin/kiez---stadt/boeser-biber--guter-biber--25260786