Rewild London Fund 2023

London Water Vole Recovery Programme (LWVRP)

The Zoological Society of London led collaborative London Water Vole Recovery Programme will deliver a second phase of the project following on from their round 2 award. This will include the expansion of Waterlife Recovery Trust’s mink trapping programme to the whole of London, planning sites for water vole recovery and reintroduction, training 40 volunteers to survey water voles and the addition of 10 new sites to the People’s Trust for Endangered Species National Water Vole Monitoring Programme. 

Wandsworth, Merton, Kingston-upon-Thames

Rewilding Queensmere Pond

Wimbledon and Putney Commons are one of the largest SINCs in London, with over 461 hectares crossing the three boroughs of Wandsworth, Merton and Kingston. The rarity of certain habitats – particularly the heathlands and acid grasslands – means that around 80% of the Commons are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in recognition of their internationally important habitats and species.  

Within the Commons, Queensmere Pond can be found, created in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. It is in poor ecological condition, with no marginal vegetation and currently suffers from silt accumulation and overshading impacting the biodiversity of the landscape.   

Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators will rewild Queensmere pond, transforming it into a thriving natural feature with increased biodiversity, and installing 1200m² of reedbeds. The installation of fixed-point photography posts will enable visitors to be involved in monitoring its improvement.

Riverside Gardens Wetland Restoration

This project in Bromley, managed by South East Rivers Trust in partnership with the London Borough of Bromley and local community groups, aims to improve water quality and habitat in the headwaters of the River Cray. The project will reprofile the inlet channel and the online wetland, and add a new sediment trap to prevent sediment release downstream, which will increase the water quality and flow to support aquatic vegetation, fish and river invertebrates. The reprofiled wetland will be planted up by volunteers using a selection of native wetland plants. 

Empowering Community Conservation at Grove Farm

The Friends of Grove Farm project aims to enhance the Grove Farm SINC and neighbouring green space by producing a conservation management plan for the entire SINC (10.5 hectares) and adjacent green space (5.20 hectares). The Friends will also improve the current habitat by restoring woodland, creating a pond and restoring an overgrown meadow.  

Enfield Beaver Site Expansion Project

Enfield Council will upgrade the current beaver project at Forty Hall alongside project partner Capel Manor College. Elements include expanding the enclosure which will lead to habitat improvement in the short-term, and development of the site into a Metropolitan SINC in the long term. Communities will be involved, supporting and monitoring the beavers from a new viewing platform and paths around the enclosure.  

Old Lea River and Marshes Restoration 

Run by the Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston, this project has been focused on the Old Lea River. This third phase will improve the ecological connectivity between the Old Lea River and the Lea Navigation Canal through improved management of the woodland along the banks of both waterways and the installation of stepping stone habitat patches to allow field mice, voles and shrews to move more easily across the amenity grassland that separates the two woodlands and waterways. Some of the other components of the project are surveys for small mammals and aquatic and terrestrial plants which will establish baselines and inform the direction of the project and volunteers will be trained to become Urban Riverfly surveyors to help in the ongoing monthly monitoring of aquatic invertebrates and water quality.  

Alexandra Park Wetland Creation

The Alexandra Park Wetland Creation project is a community-led initiative managed by The Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust to increase the wildlife interest in the south-east corner of Alexandra Park. A previous round of Rewild London Funding supported the feasibility study which is now being actioned to increase habitat variety and connectivity. This project will create a wetland reed bed, increase species diversity, reduce flood risk, foster community stewardship and create a new outdoor educational offer plus health and wellbeing benefits for all. 

Stanmore Common - Back To The Future (B2TF)

Stanmore Common is a 49.20-hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. This is Harrow's wildest site, and supports species now recorded nowhere else in London.  

This London Borough of Harrow project will restore 5 hectares of acid grassland and heathland, addressing past declines and kick-starting a Stanmore Common renaissance. On site events will include bat walks, moth trapping, bird walks and practical volunteer opportunities.   

Valuable heath areas will be re-connected, and heterogeneity increased, allowing heath spotted orchid to continue to thrive, and hopefully increase, together with other specialist heathland plants and invertebrates.  

Chiswick House and Gardens Trust - Woodland wilderness transformation 

This project will begin to transform 3.5-hectares of two existing woodlands into species-rich, biodiverse areas. The first step will be to establish a baseline through ecological surveys to identify species with low populations to increase, and high population species to protect and enhance. The project will plant at least 100 trees and up to 250 shrubs to support a variety of biodiversity for now and into the future.

Bunhill Fields Rewilding and Learning Project

Bunhill Fields is a 1.6hectare SINC garden managed by the City of London Corporation’s Gardens Team with the assistance of the Friends of City Gardens. The project will focus on the planting of native plants, ferns, trees, herbaceous plants and wildflowers to improve the space for not only pollinators but birds, butterflies and the local community. Outdoor learning sessions will be created for scything and woodland management reconnecting people with their local space and traditional methods of greenspace management.

Wild Tolworth - Rewilding Tolworth Court Farm

Steeped in history, this 42-hectare site can be dated back to the Domesday Book in 1086. Following a full ecological survey of the site and extensive consultation, the project partners, The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Citizen Zoo and The Community Brain will embark on a pioneering project to introduce rewilding principles on a scale not seen before within urban London. This will include the use of cattle grazing and innovative ‘No Fence’ technology to restore 30 hectares of Lowland Meadow. 

Conservation grazing creates vegetation at different heights, and small areas of bare ground. This makes it suitable for a wide range of wildlife in different habitats. It allows wildflowers to grow, flower and set seed each year. This provides pollen and nectar for invertebrates and increases invertebrate food available for birds. They will also introduce a suitable domesticated breed of pig in low numbers for a brief period throughout the year, as an analogue to the rootling pressure of wild boar. This project will not only rewild the landscape by embracing ecological processes but also rewild people's hearts and minds, introducing communities to natural wonders that they can find so close to their doorsteps. 

Archbishops Amphibians

Lambeth Council will upgrade the habitat across Archbishops Park with a focus on frogs and toads. Working with Archbishops Park Community Trust they will create; a new marsh garden adjoining an existing pond, 70 metres square of new wildflower planting, minibeast towers, woodland walk underplanting, and a long hibernacula ditch. Volunteers will be involved in all stages, and will be trained in habitat creation, and monitoring the amphibian population in the park and surrounds.   

Friends of Clapham Common, Wetlands and Reedbeds

The Friends and Wild Clapham will be constructing a new wetland with reedbeds and species-rich grasslands adjacent to Eagle Pond on Clapham Common.  

The site itself will create approximately 0.1ha of wetland habitat specifically for amphibians and those invertebrates which spend the larval stage of their lifecycles underwater.  

The banks and the exterior of the site will be planted with flora that provides foliage-food plants and nectar sources for certain species of butterflies and moths.  

Dragonfly perches will be installed around the water’s edge as well as vertical stands of tree timber for stag beetles. The wetland will have no fish and will provide a sustainable and safe habitat for frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and damselflies.  

The project has been designed with a viewing deck and boardwalk to provide an educational resource for local schools.  

Northbrook Park Wetlands

Northbrook Park was known as the Ten-Acre Field and formed part of the Baring estates in Lee. In 1898 Lord Northbrook offered it for public use, in commemoration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The London Borough of Lewisham is committed to support the Railway Children District Park landscape-scale vision to link Grove Park, including Northbrook Park, to Elmstead Woods and beyond to the Kent countryside.   

The project proposes to daylight a stream, create two new wetland habitats, plant native trees and hedge accompanied by swathes of new meadow planting. As part of the engagement activities various wildlife features will be installed in the park, including bird and bat boxes, stag beetle loggeries, hibernacula, dead hedge and bug hotels. The project will also include education sessions for local school children. 

Deptford Creek SINC Link 

The Creekside Education Trust will link 3 SINCs - creating and improving priority habitats, as well as establishing a local provenance seed library and plant nursery. Management of important intertidal habitats in Deptford Creek and grassland at Sue Godfrey Nature Park will support a variety of species. A new biodiverse green lawn will be created at the Creekside Discovery Centre and the existing green/ brown roof will be brought back into active management, for the benefit of local flora and the enjoyment of thousands of people visiting the site each year. The project will implement citizen science sessions and a schools engagement programme to ensure skills development and learning are integral to the project. Given the extensive development around Deptford Creek, the project plays a crucial role in maintaining and enhancing the local ecological network and fostering connections between people and wildlife. 

Lewisham Orchards for Wildlife and People

Working with local people, The Orchard Project will transform orchards into thriving ecosystems beneficial to wildlife at four sites in Lewisham. It will offer training in orchard care skills and establish a network of best practice orchards across the borough.   

The project will encourage wildlife around the orchards by planting edible hedgerows, creating ponds, improving grass management for pollinators and installing bird and bat boxes. These elements will be co-designed with local communities. Ecological surveys will record progress. 

Saproxylic Invertebrate Project

The project, managed by Barnes Conservation, part of Barnes Common Limited, will focus on the conservation of saproxylic invertebrates, which are those dependent on dead or decaying wood for part of their lifecycle. The project aims to improve the biodiversity value of over 49 hectares of broadleaf woodland for saproxylic invertebrates through a focus upon appropriate care and protection of veteran trees and future veteran trees, the trialling of artificial beetle boxes and the improvement of woodland structure and light levels. The project will also engage the local community in the importance of deadwood habitats and the importance of retaining suitable habitat. 

Linc the SINCs: Boosting biodiversity across Lincoln Estate

Poplar HARCA will establish new biodiverse corridors, buffers and habitats in the Lincoln Estate, Poplar, which strengthen and connect four important locals SINCs: Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Fairfoot Woods, Perring Community Garden and the Limehouse Cut Canal. Working in partnership with Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, the project includes expanding priority flower-rich grassland, adding native trees, hedge and climbers, and installing priority bird and bat boxes, loggeries and hibernacula. New tree planting, installing designated refuse storage areas with a green roof shelter and habitat panels will allow wildlife to thrive. 

WildE3

This project, led by Urban Growth and Clarion Housing Group, aims to create buffers and stepping stones between five SINCs in Tower Hamlets, testing rewilding strategies which can be replicated across the housing group’s national portfolio. Covering around 35 hectares, the initiative focuses on engaging residents through participatory, inclusive, and educational methods, transforming communal outdoor spaces to enhance nature connections and well-being in deprived communities. Landscape interventions include converting amenity lawns, adjusting mowing regimes, planting hedgerows and orchards, while installing bird and bat boxes, and informative boards. Additionally, it involves resident events, training, carpentry workshops, and health and well-being surveys. 

Wildways: Markhouse to the Marshes

The Waltham Forest Wildways: Markhouse to the Marshes project aims to enhance nesting and foraging habitats for bees and wasps of conservation concern. Focused on improving connectivity between Queens Road Cemetery (QRC) and the Lea Valley, steppingstone habitats will be created in several urban locations. At QRC testing of new site management approaches to expand and improve habitats will support the aim of the site achieving SINC status. Led by the Climate Emergency Team at London Borough of Waltham Forest, the project involves residents and the council’s park, housing, and highways teams, as well as partners Organic Lea and University of East London. Throughout the project there will be opportunities for residents to learn more about and get involved with pollinator conservation.  

Westbourne Green Open Space

The Westbourne Green project will expand on a current area of meadow by sowing an adjacent section of grass with wildflower seeds to provide shelter and food for important pollinators. Deadwood logs and animal boxes will be installed to create habitat and homes for invertebrates and birds. City of Westminster will provide the community with opportunities to join in with meadow sowing and planting.