Connecting with nature in London

It's great to be involved with volunteering opportunities, but these tend to be designed for either people to engage with nature (e.g.: children activities) or for people to have a fun day out. It often feels I'm not making a real impact. There seems to be very little for the many adults who already have a connection with nature. It would be great to have a volunteering work that have a major impact even if it means hard work. If I take a day off work to help nature, I want it to be meaningful for me and for nature.

New developments should have less hard landscaping and more wildlife friendly plants in planters.  It isn't good for humans or wildlife.  More wildlife areas in parks and random kerbside areas. New street trees near me are watered and looked after well (unless vandalised) which is good to see.  More please.  Easy access to help out wildlife organisations - near me (central London) it is quite limited.  Legislation to force water companies to spend 'profits' and shareholder pay-outs on their actual required activity of treating sewerage, building infrastructure, and giving us clean rivers, and water - not letting them put up bills.  Or renationalise permanently.

I’m lucky to live near a brook in Barnet but I see a lot of fly tipping and vandalism including trees being cut down by members of the public. Whenever I report these issues to the council I get passed from pillar to post with no one taking responsibility. No one has the time to mess about with this so people just accept it, but I’d like there to be a more joined up and robust response from the council - a clear departure to report environmental damage to who can navigate the different departments and structures

• To help protect London’s natural spaces on a personal level I am educating myself on the biodiversity crisis (books, podcasts, training), signing petitions and joining nature marches. In my sustainability work I am starting to bring in nature positive strategy will all my clients including protecting and restoring their green spaces. 
• What would you like to do (more of) to help protect London’s natural spaces, and why? I would like to ensure, with funding, I can inspire every business to educate employees, write a nature positive strategy and rewild their outdoor spaces - to benefit people and the planet. 
• What’s stopping you from taking action to help protect London’s natural spaces? Funding for this kind of project - not all businesses have a budget for climate and biodiversity - in particular, investment into flora and fauna with expertise from local ecologists and landscape architects. 
• What would encourage you to do more? Grant funding for this type of project - while there is funding out there for large rewilding projects this often lacks for small projects which connect business with ecology experts in the NGO sector. 

I take part in community gardening projects when I have the time and energy, but it seems the council are relying on friends groups to do everything in our parks. These groups require leaders who have the time and knowledge to organise, apply for funding and negotiate with the few remaining council staff, plus volunteers to do the gardening. Some areas just don't have enough people who can do this. 

I also take part in litter picks sometimes. A lot of nitrous oxide canisters and vapes get left, but there's a lack of facilities to dispose of them safely even if we do collect them up. 

I would like to see more support for volunteer groups, to help maintain and improve green spaces, since the historic model of employing park rangers and gardeners doesn't seem to be viable anymore. Also more facilities for the public to dispose of or recycle their waste. If you don't have a car to drive to the tip it's hard to get rid of many things properly, so people dump them in parks or on the streets. 

We need more green pleasant spaces where people live. As car use decreases and parking requirements reduce, we should be turning roads into green spaces for walking and cycling. Earls Court down to Edith Grove would be a good place to start.

Compared to other European cities, London benefits from a great deal of greenery, wild nature, water, gardens and so forth. But it's all under increasing pressure, and nature is stressed. The Canal and River Trust needs far more funding to fulfil its mandate, and Thames Water should be stripped of its shareholders and nationalised.

I do a lot of nature volunteering and see a mixed picture across London. It would be quite easy to support more "wild patches" in parks and gardens, we need space for people to play games but patches of long grass make a massive difference for flowers and insects. Some boroughs are more biodiversity- aware than others- I have done voluntary work with Lewisham and there are some brilliant staff in the Council who are supporting projects helping people with mental health difficulties engage with nature conservation as part of their recovery. But other boroughs seem to do all they can to destroy any living thing! I hate to see lawns mown to destruction, flower beds planted with mass-produced plants which are useless for insects,  and pavements sprayed with pesticides- people are more likely to slip on the beer cans and rubbish on pavements than trip up over a daisy in the paving stone cracks. In short there's some wonderful work being done in some areas of London but good work needs to spread to all boroughs. 

I worry that the pressure of housing and increasing population (no issue with any type of people and don't care what they look like, simply the population increase), is adding pressure on our green spaces in terms of building housing developments. Animals have just as much right to live here as we do, might does not equal right. I'd like to see new housing in the city, instead of offices where people can work from home. I'd like to see our wildlife protected and left to thrive for years to come. And I'd like to see us build up where we can, and NEVER on green land.  

I take care not to damage them myself, don't litter, don't step on or pull up plants, don't climb trees, etc; I also make my garden a habitat for pollinators

If I had the money, I would donate towards nature protection

Lack of time prevents me from, e.g., joining a litter collection group

More time - and better weather - would encourage me to do more

I am concerned about the possible development of some of the green space in and around London.  Whilst I appreciate that everyone needs somewhere to live, the green belt is called the Lungs of London for a reason and should be protected.

I ma a regular participant in our local "park watch" -  a group of us patrol the park in our town centre in the hope of limiting the amount of wildlife harm from catapulting etc.  

I would like to see catapults licensed, same as guns, to try and cut down on the number of people who can buy / use them.

Some of our local police officers are really good at supporting us when we report wildlife crime, others less so - I would like to think that all police could be trained to take wildlife crime seriously which would, hopefully, encourage more people to report it.

My thoughts are that parakeets are killing bats and other hole nesting species. 

More dog poo and litter bins are needed everywhere. Support for wildlife is greatly needed everywhere, including nesting sites for birds (especially predator species), hedgehog tunnels and aquatic wildlife crossings. Pesticide use in gardens should be controlled and biodiversity increased in park flora. Obviously, our rivers greatly need cleaning up. Thames Water executives should be personally fined and prosecuted for mismanaging London’s water, with fines at £100k per hour of sewage release, per person. Wetland habitat needs priority, along with support for healthy river and water ecosystems. Boat traffic should also pay a pollution charge for petrol/fossil fuel engines. All new builds in London should have solar panels and heat pumps legally required to bring emissions and energy bills down

In an award winning regeneration project of Woodberry Down, Hackney - the neighbourhood of boat reservoir and Woodberry Wetlands - food delivery motorcyclists drive and park on footpaths in totally pedestrian, green and recreational areas that are also meant to be wildlife friendly. I have been acting against this antisocial and criminal behaviour for the last two years, including complaining to the London Mayor's office. No meaningful, professional action has been taken by anyone so far. I am really unhappy about it, it deeply affects my mental health and wellbeing. Food delivery motorcyclists are at total liberty to do as they please in areas, where they shouldn't be at all.

By driving and parking on footpaths and pavements (some of them very narrow), food delivery motorcyclists not only pose a serious risk to the life or health of pedestrians, they also pollute our local green spaces with fumes, noise and light.

I came to live in Woodberry Down to be near nature. On my terrace I have created a green space, installed bird feeder. I want to hear birds chirping and not motorbikes farting outside my windows.

1. I agree that not enough green space is being ADDED. Most of the proposed developments around here exploit access to existing green spaces that border Waltham Forest such as the Lee valley and Epping forest. This is leading to human pressures and damage in all ways. All developments should have decent green space set aside for the new occupants to enjoy as most are in the form of high rise with often just an apron of hard landscaping .
2. I am afraid that big developers will and are already finding ways around the Biodiversity Net Gain regulations. Planning authorities need to be ensuring this does not happen.

3. For Those who want to learn more there are some excellent online/in person courses with the Fields Studies council.

   The Biological Recording company has a varied choice of webinars and symposia  a lot for free or a modest donation and you can find some interesting You tube recordings on their Entolive channel.

   The peoples Trust for endangered Species has been going some time and has lovely resources as well.

   I hope that this is helpful. You may find something that really stirs your interest like I did with stag beetles and dead wood!