Nurturing biodiversity key to climate resilience

Monday, 10 August 2026 14:30

By Amelia Averis

We're told that anything we can do to create more wild spaces - no matter how small - will make Jersey's environment more resilient to extreme weather.

Another heatwave is set to add to what has already been an unprecedentedly hot and dry summer.

Water supplies in Jersey down 15% during hottest month on record

Emily Wagdin from Jersey Biodiversity Centre says our wild species will be really struggling:

"Water is so essential; it has a complete knock-on effect.

"If we don't get sufficient rainfall, seeds won't germinate, which leads to insects not being able to pollinate those plants. Without pollination and those food plants being available for their life cycles, we won't see as many adults who can reproduce.

"And then that has a knock-on effect for birds at the top of the food chain.

"With climate change, we know we are going to experience more heatwaves, and those warmer summers and heatwaves that we are having are going to be more intense, and that's going to have a huge knock-on effect.

"These extreme heat weather events we're having are definitely something to be concerned about, and to try and do what we can in our wild spaces to try to prepare against it."

She explains that when an environment is varied, species can 'fill in' for each other in the ecosystem, or food chain, if one of them is unable to cope with the weather conditions.

"The more biodiverse our habitats, the more resilient they are to extreme weather events such as heat, drought, or flooding.

"Anything we can do to have more wild space is actually really useful because the more we stay true to the environment we are meant to have across the island, the more that helps, and there are benefits."

So, ensuring we have a diverse environment is one way to help our wildlife cope with prolonged periods of extreme weather:

She says it's not just 'wild' space where species can thrive, but that actually, the number of gardens in Jersey means they are important safe havens for our wildlife:

"You can create a bucket pond, have a small wildflower patch, a bee hotel - various little changes that are actually quite minor to your garden."

Resources

The Jersey Pollinator Project

Jersey Biodiversity Centre