| Pete Perry's WILD PLANT SANCTUARY |
| Back in 1966, Pete Perry wrote a letter to the UK Gardening Paper, GARDEN NEWS, suggesting a National Sanctuary for wild plants. This would be a vast expanse of land which would include meadowland, woodland, boggy areas and so on, so that as many British Wild Plants as possible could live in a completely natural state. The idea was hailed by Garden News Readers at the time, but unfortunately, there was never enough money for the project, and nobody was willing to donate any land to get it off the ground. Now at 68 Years old, Pete is determined to make this dream come true, where as many Native British Plants as possible can be grown without any threat to their existence from official and unofficial vandals. Now this long-held dream may come true at last, as Pete makes his appeal on TV - WATCH THIS SPACE! |
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| This form of Wild Pansy, Viola tricolor ssp Curtsii, only grows in sand dunes, and their natural habitat is under an ever-increasing threat from Human Activity. |
| Many nature lovers who call themselves 'purists' insist that we should not move native plants from their natural habitat, even if they are in danger. Pete disagrees with this viewpoint, and believes it is 'shortsighted and dangerous'. Unlike many 'conservation areas', Pete Perry's Wild Plant Sanctuary would be stocked with wild plants, taken from other sites if necessary, in order to give them a safe haven. A damp meadow, for example, would be planted en masse with snakeshead fritilliaries and Loddon Lilies, drifting down river banks into the water, as they occur in nature. Dense boggy woodland would be home to Oxlips, wood anemones, sweet violets and wood sorrell, whereas lighter wooded areas would play host to primroses, wood violets and English bluebells. If necessary, the right conditions could be created for them. This is where Pete believes Mankind's skills in landscaping and horticulture can be used to help the natural world. |
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| The Snakeshead Fritillary |
| The Wood Sorrell (Right) grows in dense boggy woodlands along with Oxlips, Wood Anemones and Sweet Violets |
| (Above) grows naturally together with The Loddon Lily (Below) in damp meadowland, and down the banks into the water. |
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| There is no subscription fee for joining The Plant Sanctuary Project, and we don't want donations. All we want is your moral and physical support. However, if you have a suitable piece of land that could be used for this project, we would be very grateful. If you want to help, please contact Pete Perry at widgeripoo@yahoo.co.uk. |
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| Updated 13th Oct 2006 |