London is many things. But is it a place of outstanding natural beauty,
such as the Yorkshire Moors, Yellowstone National Park or the Sahara
desert? Anyone who has taken a train through Croydon or driven along the
North Circular will answer that question with a fervent, resounding and
forceful ‘fuck, no’. And there’s no denying that London’s natural
beauty is oftenoverlooked in favour of its grand buildings, dingy back
alleys and myriad public houses. But perhaps people just aren’t looking
hard enough, or in the right places. That’s certainly the idea behind a
campaign which aims to have London declared the world’s first urban
national park.
Sound far-fetched? What if we told you that more than 60 percent of
London is green space and water? That it’s home to 1,500 species of
flowering plant and 300 species of birds? That it has 142 nature
reserves and an estimated 3.8 million private gardens? Not to mention
the incredible diversity of languages, cultural institutions and Unesco
World Heritage Sites that make this city so brilliant. Not laughing now,
are you? The organisers of the Greater London National Park campaign
have started a petition that you can sign to support the initiative.
After all, we can all do with a reminder now and again of just how lucky
we are. Even in Croydon.
No comments:
Post a Comment