Rewilding London

Ban the use of plastic grass in all new developments and for any domestic use (and incentivise people to replace it where they have already laid it).
It is ecological suicide - wiping out habitat and food sources for insects, and even the soil underneath becomes infertile. Microplastics leak out of it and enter our water supply.
In decades to come people will look back with horror that we allowed plastic grass to proliferate in our urban spaces.

That the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world is a national embarrassment. It's no wonder that most young people have no interest in the countryside, there's little wildlife to see, unlike in Europe.
The urgent need for rewilding is greatest in the densely populated south east to bring so many people so many benefits for mental health and spiritual well-being. Near me in SW London there are green spaces of little wildlife value that could be maximised for nature but the two boroughs show no interest. It's probably not surprising when they are so stretched. They need a helping hand.
London's green belt needs urgently to be protected from inappropriate housing development and rewilding is the use that will deliver the most benefits for people and wildlife. Yet, meanwhile, council policies, pushed by central government are looking to build on every last scrap of green space. This needs to be stopped. Stop cutting down trees on railway lines. Councils must stop cutting and spraying verges and parks to within an inch of their life. Require bat and swift boxes and green roofs in all developments. Rewilding in London means maximising these small spaces to create a patchwork.
But we also need big schemes, as big as possible. Buy land from farmers in the green belt or work with them. Buy golf courses or end those council leases to golf clubs, used by few, wealthy people in dwindling numbers. The golf course sadly carved out of Wimbledon Common is a great example. Hand it back to people and nature.
Work with WWT, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust and London Wildlife Trust. Work with community groups Bring councils together and show them the benefits. Create woodlands, grasslands and wetlands and think big. There's no reason why we can't have beavers, water voles, ospreys, sand lizards and the like in and around London. Please make it happen for Londoners, and fast. I think you'll be surprised how many people will want to help plant trees and the like.

near my house a volunteering group recently (almost at the end of winter) did a workshop about how to do old-school hedging, I saw the participants quite satisfied at the end of it and I could see loads of birds in the restored hedge over spring

- Yes, the city requires more wildlife species for the well being of London's residents. More trees and wetlands would help to capture CO2 and cool down the areas where they are planted.
- Plants and animals species come back and bring environmental benefits and as a result mental health benefits to the wider population.
Main challenges could be to expropriate extensive land from construction developers in order to be left for rewilding purposes.
- Rewilding should take place throughout London and mainly in the part of the city where there are no green spaces at all or they are very small and limited.
- River restoration of all the tributaries of the river Thames as well as the Thames itself through the removal of river's bank barriers and the deployment of natural material in order to recreate a more natural river's features. Creation of wetlands in every borough, tree planting in any park possible considering that many parks have open land not utilized by the members of the public even at peak times as in spring/summer week ends and bank holidays. Slow re-introduction of animal native species. Creation of meadows in order to help and enable the return of several insect's species as for instance increase of bees.
- I could help in tree planting, and any other physycal activity required for the different rewilding projects when I am off from my actual job.

I think London already benefits from an amazing mosiac of greenspaces, but far more can be done. I'm very interested in encouraging 'pocket spaces', green corners, roadsides and other areas where plants are allowed to grow and left for the benefit of nature. All railway sidings in London should be protected as one continuous reserve - all parks and local spaces should have a small area set aside for the benefit of wildlife, where people and leisure activities are not the priority. Bird boxes (especially for swifts), bat boxes and green roofing should be mandatory, at least in partial coverage, for all flat-roofed buildings. Waterways should be unconvered, and areas where existing waterways have been canalised should be broken down. More areas of parkland should be closed to dogs. London Wildlife Trust, City Hall and the Boroughs should create a single, coherent network of London's greenspaces, encouraging corridors for the movement of wildlife and encouraging even the smallest spaces to become green. Plants should be allowed to grow wherever they take hold, unless they create a structural or health risk. More trees should be protected from felling, even in private gardens. Animals should be reintroduced wherever possible. A bettter cross-borough mowing regime for the good of grassland plants. Areas should be set aside as seasonal floodplains.

Create a detailed and specific housing and development policy / London Plan in line with maintaining nature - including the building of more high-rises, and encourage quality surrounding greenspaces. Intensive development doesn't have to mean concrete, and to think otherwise is foolish

I have a 'regular' job in IT these days, but a degree in Environmental Biology, and have never really known how or where to express my ideas, or who to - not to mention whether they would be taken seriously. Now is our opportunity to create a london fit for people and for wildlife.

The mayor's claim to want rewilding is massively at odds with his constant desire to flog off postage stamp bits of land (such as TfL car parks) to private developers to build huge blocks of completely inappropriate and unaffordable flats. Local authority planning departments also need to be involved so they stop allowing over-development/inappropriate development. London cannot sustain any more people and rewilding is about more than planting a few trees or saving a few hedgehogs.

Rewilding in an urban environment is really gardening, its not about doing nothing, you can only get away with that in large rural spaces. Great employment opportunity here for people to help manage these spaces not just litter pickers. Take a leaf out of Nigel Dunnets work in Sheffield. Long grass and wild areas became acceptable with mown edges you can have both it is not a case of one or the other
Good luck with this project so important for the mental well being of the stresses of urban living

Thanks to citizen Khan I think London is already ‘wild’ enough.

Ask me the same question when Khan sorts out the police….if he can.

I can remember a London in the sixties where I could walk home at night safely.
Thanks to Bliar and Labour opening the floodgates to every criminal foreigner who wanted to come here!

I live in a block that has 2a of grounds inc. 5 lawns. During lockdown we allowed the poorest lawn to grow long. Some people loved it, a vocal minority thought it untidy & unsuitable, the silent majority kept out of the argument. Here, always, the naysayers get their way. Very disappointing. They are not amenable to the arguments for it. So little understanding of the crisis we are in.

I think rewinding isn't just about blocking off an area to rewind but bringing wildlife into our daily lives through all of the environments we interact with.

Legislation for new developments must have green aspects to them -trees, green spaces planted with native plants, living walls or roof top green spaces, water storage facilities. By greening EVERY TIME building works take place whether in the private or public domain, more species diversity can be encouraged. This includes homeowners also.

Trees or greenery on every street in London. (The lamp-post greening towers can work in small or cramped streets.)

Parks, golf courses, sports fields should all have some wild area within it, whether through trees and shrubs at their perimeters, wildflower/long grass areas or inclusion of ponds.

All school must have wild green areas (and trees planted); and be part of students weekly education/ wellbeing interactions.

We should definitely be rewilding London. With the city constantly breaching WHO air pollution limits and some wildlife (such as hedgehogs, certain species of birds and butterflies) massively in decline it should be a top priority for the Mayor and receive greater funding than the £600,000 mentioned (an amount made particularly irksome considering the £2bn being spent on the Silvertown Tunnel which is only going to exacerbate these issues).

Things like:

-Stop mowing lawn on roadsides and grass areas that aren't used and allow wildflowers to grow
-Legal requirements for all new builds to include specialised bricks/boxes/spaces for birds, particularly declining species like swifts, to nest in
-Wildlife bridges would be great to help species like hedgehogs and foxes move around safely
-Ensure all parks and large outside spaces have dedicated areas to be left wild - to allow wildflowers and plants vital for pollinators to flourish
-Reintroduce beavers in areas that might reduce flooding risk in the Thames
-Living roofs on bus stops, stations etc..

-And slightly off topic but nevertheless relevant - a ban on the sale of the blight that is plastic grass (!)

For anyone in Hackney and Waltham Forest, East London Waterworks Park is a community-led charity aiming to buy and transform the 5.68 hectare Lea Bridge Waterworks Depot into a new biodiverse park with wild swimming ponds and community learning spaces. We have volunteering opportunities in comms, fundraising, inclusivity research, design and learning research. To get involved you can email [email protected] or visit our website https://www.eastlondonwaterworkspark.co.uk/

We absolutely need to rewild London. Street trees and parks are great but they need to be part of a connected natural network which runs throughout the capital, including the most built up and commercial areas. The benefits speak for themselves, the challenge will be convincing those not connected to nature or who have a vested interest in not doing anything ie financial, real estate etc. It needs to happen everywhere, not be somewhere you go to see. It needs to be visible to everyone and everywhere. Rewilding is a very broad and emotive subject, all areas of greening up the city have to be considered, whether they achieve their aim or not. Any kind of rewilding will work well, even if it’s just not cutting the grass. You don’t need to see large fauna for it to be success, let’s not forget that insects are the basis of all life and just because we can’t see changes, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Sometimes the changes are taking place at microscopic level, invisible or unnoticeable to the human eye but happening nonetheless. The curse of ecological tidyness has to stop and councils are the worst for this, their operatives need proper training and staff need to be prepared for the complaints which will surely follow from those used to seeing neat and tidy. I suggest trips to other cities, such as Amsterdam, where they are years ahead of the rest, let’s not try to reinvent the wheel, let’s learn by mistakes others have made and not make them ourselves.

Wormwood Scrubs in West London is a public space described as “more wild than tamed” but where a whole swathe of the LNR has been desecrated by both Crossrail & HS2 with the imprimatur & support of the Mayor of London. Before “rewilding” how about we protect the spaces we already have. The Old Oak & Park Royal Development board have just green lighted a massive development of the adjoining area with 35,000 homes in a series of high rise blocks. Our planning system has to align with any rewilding ambition or it is just lip service. We have 6000 empty homes in Kensington & Chelsea anonymously owned by companies registered in tax havens - so instead we are cutting down trees & destroying green spaces like Wornington W10 to build “affordable homes” that only those earning £85k pa or above can afford.

I am a big supporter of rewilding but whilst corporate property magnates are not taxed or held accountable and allowed planning permission to encroach more and more onto public land what hope do we have?

Stephen Moss' book 'Accidental Countryside' shows how important brownfield and urban areas are for biodiversity and humans, especially as agricultural land is now so without environmental value. Therefore we need to turn every possible space, however small or unlikely a habitat, into a haven and this will all add up. Everyone can play a part in this - individuals with gardens/balconies, schools, shops and businesses, community spaces. And so many co-benefits - community cohesion, physical and mental health, aesthetic appeal, air pollution etc.

Expose as much living earth as possible. Have a campaign to stop people concreting over etc front gardens- raise awareness of the rules and enforce them. Educate how to combine a parking space with hedges and greenery. Educate about the benefits re pollution and wildlife. Hounslow used to have an excellent record for green thinking- NOT ANY MORE. It's shocking. Regreen our streets- starting with the obsession with hard standing and ignorance of (ie lack of knowledge) of the rules, health benefits. aesthetics and community responsibility for the future. Change the culture of concrete!

Rewinding is extremely important for our future. It is part of the solution for stopping dangerous climate change, as nature knows how to regulate the planet best. We should also reintroduce those species we wiped out a long time ago to help the restoration- they can’t come back by them self as we live on an island. Just look how beavers can help the environment and how wolves sorted out Yellowstone (London may not be the primary location for wolf reintroduction). For London rewinding will help prevent flooding which is big risk.

My main interest is in maximising street tree planting. For their cooling benefits, beauty and environmental contribution. This is not really rewilding. I'm not convinced that rewilding is appropriate in a major city like London.
We are home to natural immigrants ranging from giant hogweed to parakeets.