Botanists Are Using Graffiti to Name Wild Flora in the Cities Across Europe!

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Suzanne Abou Said Daou

International wave is spreading across Europe, where botanists are using graphitti, actually chalk to identify wild plants’ biodiversity trodden by people between the cracks of pavements, streets and trees, however, this practice faces legal action in Britain.

The wave that has gone viral, started in Toulouse, France, with botanist Boris Presseq, in a viral video of him chalking up names to highlight street flowers in the French city that had attracted 7 million views, another photo from UK attracted more than 127 thousand likes by followers.

“I wanted to raise awareness of the presence, knowledge and respect of these wild plants on sidewalks. People who had never taken the time to observe these plants now tell me their view has changed. Schools have contacted me since to work with students on nature in the city”, Presseq told the Guardian.

Since banning pesticide use in France in parks, streets and other public spaces in 2017 and in gardens from 2019, a surge in awareness of urban wild flowers have swept over the country.

In UK, since lockdown started, self-employed forest school practitioner, while she's been unable to use the classroom or the forest at the moment, to teach her students about wild plants and trees in the streets and forests of her town Walthamstow, Rachel started writing names of different plants and trees, and interesting facts on pavements during walks around her neighborhood.

Rachel “chalked”:”London Plane: my favourite, takes pollution out of the air”, she also wrote: “Sycamore, a real survivor, grows anywhere”, a resident of the city Elizabeth Archer tweeted: “To whomever is chalking names and descriptions of trees on the pavements across Walthamstow. I love you. This made my heart sing today”, her photos attracted more than 127 K views, and thousands of comments.

 However the practice of chalking is illegal without permission in the UK, even if the reasons are aimed for education, art or knowledge such as raising awareness to these forgotten plants.

Sophie Leguil a botanist living in London started in England the campaign More Than Weeds campaign, aimed at changing the perception of people of heavily urbanized and concreted cities, to highlight the biodiversity of spontaneous flora growing on walls, pavement or tree pits, she gained the permission from authorities to chalk Hackney’s highways, Leguil participated earlier with the French campaign, Sauvages de ma rue (“wild things of my street”), by Tela Botanica that attracted more than 52 thousand botanists and gained about a million participants.

 

 







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