Rewilding London

* I do think we need to rewild London because we are facing both a biodiversity crisis and a climate crisis. By tackling both together, we help to prevent both.
* The benefits of rewilding are simple, we need to tackle the biodiversity crisis and rewilding is key to doing that. The main challenge for me, is educating the public on why rewilding is both important and necessary.
* Rewilding should take place wherever it can in whatever way is practical.
* I believe species reintroductions could take place in certain areas. I also believe that green infrastructure, such as green rooves and nest boxes are imperative to encourage wildlife to stay.
* Conservation is such a difficult industry to get your foot in the door. I have been taking part and coordinating a conservation volunteer project for over four years now, but still get knocked back when applying for jobs, without getting an interview.

I'm surprised not see motor vehicle dominance arise in discussions about preserving wildlife. There's plenty of data which points the finger at motor traffic for the huge decline in the numbers of wildlife species in our towns and cities. This is not just a direct result of drivers running over and killing millions of animals on our streets every year, but it's also largely due to the decrease in air quality brought about by motor vehicles and the noise levels created by them. Add to this the amount of space needed to support infrastructure for motor vehicles - wide, multi-lane motorways, huge car parks, etc., which have all taken away natural spaces - it's a wonder we have any wildlife left!

We have limited space in cities and parks etc important for leisure activities . Okay don’t mow all public grass areas etc. encourage people not to mow all their lawns, leave weeds and plant trees and flowers that bees etc like

Rewilding an isolated park in a sea of asphalt won't work. Well, it won't work well. We need to be looking at how wildlife and plants can move/colonise along networks of green spaces. Pretending that only parks and farms matter is ignoring how much of London is residential: how can we remove paving/parking and astro-turf from front and back yards in creative ways (e.g. a permeable parking surface if you *really* want to park in front of the house into which plants can self-seed) so as to create corridors for animals and plants while also reducing the heat-island effect and flooding. I'd love some guidance (and limited financial support) for removing the reinforced concrete in front of our house so I can replace it with something green. I've managed to replace our front wall with a hawthorn hedge but there's a long way to go and it was a labour of love rather than part of larger project.

I think we need a lot more planting and green spaces in London. The concrete and tarmac here are bad for the environment, and absorb heat and look bad. I wish more Road space was dedicated to planting rather than car parking space. I prefer actual surface planting as opposed to just planters / hanging baskets.

Yes of course, if it can be done in the right way. A lot of green areas in London are too 'manicured' and would benefit from some meadows, habitat for more species. I believe bees are better off in town for example, so we could try to make space for other threatened species to thrive. What about nesting areas for swifts and other birds, they are often deterred by nets and spikes instead. Natural world is a proven benefit to health, mental and physical. Main challenges from vested interests who don't like 'dirt' or messiness, untidyness of any kind around their property. Our trees are cut back to the bone in the interests of health and safety, but they provide priceless environmental benefits in terms of shade, habitat, clean air and beauty.
Once the Thames is a bit cleaner perhaps work could be done to re-encourage species of fish and animals, voles etc to return. Discourage the concreting over of front gardens!

We need to do something to make Parks and Open spaces safer and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. Since a number of parks police were disbanded and Met took over things have got worse. The Councils park police don't have powers in all Parks either, just those run by the council and the Met have no duty to patrol Parks and Open spaces.

The GLA could form a London wide Parks police?

More public funding is needed as local councils do not have any money for rewilding efforts. Private sector efforts take years and easily flounder as they do not want to invest too much over time. Too many people concreting over their front and back gardens causing flooding and losing wildlife, means new wilding spaces need to be found elsewhere to maintain species. We have lots of green parks in my area but only some or parts of them would be suitable for rewilding as they are multi purpose. We need dedicated rewilding areas, which need to be bigger rather than smaller to get biodiversity and varied habitats.

We should start with the Mayor, lets have a Mayor who cares about EVERYONE who lives and or works in London, who doesn't use the position for photo shoots, trips abroad and attending expensive cup finals etc, etc

We should actively consider reforestation in and around the area of Stapleford Abbots, Havering atte Bower and Chigwell. This would link two areas of ancient woodland, Hainault Forest and Epping Forest and restore the Royal Forest of Waltham (where the current Borough, Waltham Forest takes its name from).

There is a significant amount of Crown Eatate and Church Commissioners land in this area. Partnership working with them and purchasing land in the area could be a good route to creating woodland, particularly using the Forestry England Woodland Partnership.