Founded | 1981 |
---|---|
Type | Charitable organization |
Focus | Nature conservation |
Location | |
Area served | London |
Key people | David Mooney (CEO), Mathew Frith (Director of Conservation), Leah McNally (Director of Projects & Visitor Engagement), Charlie Sims (Director of Visitor Experience), Rufus Radcliffe (Chair) |
Website | www |
London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area. [1] [2] The Trust aims to protect London's wildlife and wild spaces, and it manages 36 nature reserves in Greater London. [3] The Trust provides education services for schools. Local groups work on reserves and organise walks. [4]
The Trust's oldest reserves include Sydenham Hill Wood, which was managed by Southwark Wildlife Group before 1982 and thus was already a Trust reserve at that date. The campaign to save Gunnersbury Triangle began that same year, succeeding in 1983 when a public inquiry ruled that the site could not be developed because of its value for nature. [5] [6] The small Centre for Wildlife Gardening in East Dulwich has won an award for its work. [5] The Trust pioneered the systematic recording of data on wildlife and the environment in the capital. Its "Biological Recording Project" became the semi-independent "Greenspace Information for Greater London", known as GIGL. [5]
The Trust has more than 50 members of staff and 1500 volunteers who work together on activities as varied as water management, chalk grassland restoration, helping people with special needs and giving children an opportunity to go pond-dipping. The Trust collaborates with government agencies, local authorities, housing associations, commercial companies, building developers and sponsors to create plans and strategies at local, regional and national level, including the All London Green Grid and Biodiversity Action Plans. [7] The Trust's reserves receive over 230,000 visitors per year. [8] [9] The trust is supported by over 10,000 members. [10]
In its strategy document, For a Wilder City. London Wildlife Trust 2015–20, the Trust sets out its vision and mission, as well as plans for a five-year period. The trust states its vision as: "A London alive with nature, where everyone can experience and enjoy wildlife." [8] It describes its mission in three parts as "Protecting, Restoring and Creating wild places for nature", [8] "Engaging, Inspiring and Enabling people to connect with nature", [8] and "Championing, Challenging, and Influencing people to stand up for nature". [8] Among its aims for protecting and restoring, the Trust intends to bring 30 of its reserves to "Favourable Condition" by 2020. It plans to restore the Sydenham and Norwood woodlands, and the "Living Landscape" of the Great North Wood as a part of The Great North Wood Project, and to reintroduce the water vole to the River Wandle. [11]
The Trust's aims for engaging and enabling include new visitor centres for the reserves at Camley Street, Gunnersbury Triangle, Woodberry Wetlands and Walthamstow Wetlands. and training young people in its "Wild Talent" programme. [14] Its aims for championing nature include creating a London development biodiversity standard, hosting the London Environment Educators' Forum, collaborating on projects across the city, and opening new reserves such as Byng Road (High Barnet), Braeburn Park (Crayford) and Crane Meadows (Heathrow). Recent projects have helped to support pollinators and to conserve the Welsh Harp reservoir. [15] The Trust has three permanent charitable objectives, namely the conservation of places and objects of scientific interest and natural beauty, and of biodiversity, in Greater London; [12] the education of the public, especially young people, in nature conservation, sustainability, and "the appreciation of natural beauty"; [12] and research into nature conservation and the use of natural resources. [12]
Public access
| Classifications
|
Site | Photograph | Area | Location [lower-alpha 1] | Public access [lower-alpha 1] | Classifications | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birdbrook Road Nature Reserve [16] | N/Av | Greenwich 51°27′39″N0°01′57″E / 51.4608°N 0.03255°E TQ 413 755 | No | SINCM [16] | The site is a refuge for amphibians in London. Rocky banks of broken concrete (remnants of the reserve's industrial past) provide a habitat for basking lizards. Habitats include grassland, ponds, scrub and rocky banks. Species include great crested newt, palmate newt, smooth newt; slowworm and other lizards; yellow iris, biting stonecrop, crown vetch and cinquefoil; conehead and Roesel's bush cricket. [16] | |
Braeburn Park [17] | 22.3 hectares (55 acres) [17] | Bexley 51°26′42″N0°10′16″E / 51.4451°N 0.1711°E TQ 510 740 | Yes | SSSI [18] | The site is former sand quarries which have gradually reverted to nature. Habitats include ruderal scrub, grassland and woodland. There is a wide variety of invertebrates, including rare ones such as picture-winged flies. [17] Wansunt Pit, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, is in the park. [18] | |
Bramley Bank [19] | 10.4 hectares (26 acres) [19] | Croydon 51°21′10″N0°03′30″W / 51.3527°N 0.05841°W TQ 353 633 | Yes | LNR [20] | The site has acid grassland, woodland (mainly oak, ash and sycamore), and a pond. The margin of the pond has yellow flag and flote grass. Wildlife includes nutchatches, song thrushes, purple hairstreak butterflies, yellow meadow ants and pipistrelle bats. [19] | |
Camley Street Natural Park [21] | 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres) [21] | Camden 51°32′07″N0°07′39″W / 51.5354°N 0.12751222°W TQ 300 835 | Yes | LNR [22] | This small site is a former coal yard next to the Regents Canal and Kings Cross station. The habitats are woodland, meadow areas and ponds. It has a wide variety of plant and animal life, including bat species, and there are birds such as reed warbler, kingfisher, greylag goose, mallard and reed bunting. [21] | |
Centre for Wildlife Gardening [23] | 0.2 hectares (0.49 acres) [24] | Southwark 51°27′46″N0°04′31″W / 51.4627°N 0.07534°W TQ 338 755 | PL | SINCB1 [24] | Containing both a nature trail and a visitor centre that offers practical advice to city gardeners, this site also has a garden for visitors. The habitats include a mini-beast village, summer meadow, woodland copse, stag beetle sanctuary, wildlife pond and bog garden and flowery chalk bank. [23] | |
Crane Park Island [25] | 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) [25] | Richmond 51°26′37″N0°22′44″W / 51.4436°N 0.3789°W TQ 128 729 | Yes | LNR, [26] SINCM [25] | The island is heavily wooded, and also has a pond and areas of scrub and reedbeds. Mammals include the rare water vole, and other creatures such as kingfishers, woodpeckers, frogs, damselflies and dragonflies are also found there. [25] [26] | |
Denham Lock Wood [27] | 6.3 hectares (16 acres) [28] | Hillingdon 51°33′57″N0°28′51″W / 51.5657°N 0.4808°W TQ 054 863 | Yes | SSSI [28] | This site is mainly wet woodland, which is poorly drained and subject to flooding. The most common trees are alder and crack willow, with an understorey of mosses, ferns and herbs. In drier areas there is a hazel coppice shrub layer. [28] | |
Dews Farm Sand Pits [29] | 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres) [29] | Hillingdon 51°35′01″N0°28′28″W / 51.5836°N 0.4744°W TQ 058 883 | Yes | SINCB1 [30] | This site contains mainly acid grassland on the location of what used to be a mineral quarry, abandoned when sand and gravel extraction ended. The hollows and banks are now home to a variety of butterflies, hoverflies, grasshoppers and rabbits. [29] | |
Farm Bog [31] | 1 hectare (2.5 acres) | Merton | Yes | SSSI [18] | This valley mire, developed on a gravelly slope where seepage of acidic, nutrient-poor spring water creates gullies and pools on the underlying clay, provides a small oasis of calm away from the bustle of dog walkers, runners and cyclists. There are no footpaths nor discernible boundaries. Because it is a fragile habitat people are not encouraged to walk over it, however it is within sight of the surrounding paths that traverse Wimbledon Common. | |
Frays Farm Meadows [32] | 28.2 hectares (70 acres) [33] | Hillingdon 51°33′47″N0°28′30″W / 51.5630°N 0.4751°W TQ 058 860 | Yes | SSSI [33] | The site has a variety of different types of grassland, ranging from grazed meadows to areas of marshy grassland with tall sedge. Ditches, hedges and a railway embankment provide additional diversity. There is a variety of butterflies, dragonflies and wildfowl. [33] | |
Gunnersbury Triangle [34] | 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) [35] | Ealing/Hounslow 51°29′37″N0°16′17″W / 51.4936°N 0.2714°W TQ 201 786 | Yes | LNR, [36] SINCM [37] | This site has been cut off by railway lines since the late 19th century, and it has grown up naturally into birch and willow woods with a meadow, marshy areas and a pond. Mammals include field voles and wood mice, and there are a variety of birds and amphibians. [34] | |
Gutteridge Wood [38] | 25.0 hectares (62 acres) [39] | Hillingdon 51°32′46″N0°25′41″W / 51.5461°N 0.4280°W TQ 091 842 | Yes | LNR, [40] SINCM [41] | The site is a mosaic of woods and meadows, bisected by Yeading Brook. The trees are principally oak, with some ash and silver birch. The northern edge of the meadow has a variety of wild flowers. Birds include kestrels, great spotted woodpeckers and kingfishers. [42] | |
Huckerby's Meadows [43] [lower-alpha 2] | 13.0 hectares (32 acres) [43] | Hillingdon 51°28′24″N0°24′58″W / 51.4732°N 0.4162°W TQ 101 761 | Yes | SINCM [45] | This site on the bank of the River Crane is close to Heathrow Airport. The habitats include grassland, scrub, old pasture, wet woodland, the river and ditches. There are small heath butterflies, and plants such as bugle, water-pepper and ragged-robin. [43] | |
Hutchinson's Bank, Chapel Bank & Threecorner Grove [46] | 10.9 hectares (27 acres) [46] | Croydon 51°19′56″N0°00′53″W / 51.3322°N 0.01478°W TQ 384 611 | Yes | LNR, [47] SINCM [48] | The site is a sloping grass bank, which has a wide variety of plants, butterflies and birds. Plants include the pyramidal and man orchids, and the greater yellow-rattle, which is rare nationally. Over 100 species of moth and 37 of butterfly have been recorded. [47] | |
Ickenham Marsh [49] | 7.6 hectares (19 acres) [50] | Hillingdon 51°33′19″N0°26′01″W / 51.5552°N 0.4335°W TQ 087 852 | Yes | SINCB1 [51] | The marsh has tall herbs, soft rush and tufted hairgrass, with oak and ash woodland on higher ground. There are herbs such as skullcap, birds including blackcaps, and the long-winged conehead cricket. [49] | |
Isleworth Ait [52] | 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres) [52] | Hounslow 51°28′06″N0°19′17″W / 51.4682°N 0.3213°W TQ 167 757 | BPA | LNR, [53] SINCM [45] | This forested site floods regularly. It has more than 57 bird species, including the treecreeper and grey heron. Two rare species of molluscs also live on the island: the two-lipped door snail and the German hairy snail, as well as several rare species of beetles. [53] | |
New Cross Gate Cutting [54] | 4.2 hectares (10 acres) [55] | Lewisham 51°28′13″N0°02′21″W / 51.4702°N 0.03903°W TQ 363 764 | No | SINCM [54] | New Cross Gate Cutting is predominantly a woodland area with smaller regions of neutral and acid grassland adjacent to areas of reeds and tall herbs. Species include kestrel, great spotted woodpecker and rosebay willowherb. The reserve includes over 170 different species of flowering plants, several of which are locally rare. [54] | |
Oak Hill Wood [56] | 5.5 hectares (14 acres) [56] | Barnet 51°38′27″N0°09′08″W / 51.6409°N 0.1521°W TQ 279 952 | Yes | LNR, [57] SINCB1 [58] | It is an ancient woodland, dominated by pedunculate oak, hornbeam and ash. There is also an area of meadow which contains common wild flowers such as lady's bedstraw and common knapweed, butterflies including gatekeeper, common blue and large blue, and a number of bat species. [57] | |
Park Road Pond [59] | 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres) [60] | Hillingdon 51°33′01″N0°28′16″W / 51.5503°N 0.4712°W TQ 061 846 | Yes | SINCB1 [61] | Park Road Pond is a large pond surrounded by crack, grey willows and a few young oaks and alder. Species include dragonflies, toad, great crested newt, common frog, damselflies and pond invertebrates such as pond snail and whirligig beetle. [59] | |
Riddlesdown SSSI [62] | 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) [63] | Croydon 51°19′18″N0°05′29″W / 51.3217°N 0.09129°W TQ 331 598 | Yes | SSSI, [64] SINCM [65] | Forming part of a large chalk grassland area, close to the boundary with Surrey, Riddlesdown hosts badgers, dormice and woodland birds. The site is a rare chalk grassland habitat with its associated species. [62] | |
Saltbox Hill SSSI [66] | 6.9 hectares (17 acres) [66] | Bromley 51°19′47″N0°01′05″E / 51.3298°N 0.01814°E TQ 407 609 | Yes | SSSI, [67] SINCM [68] | Part of the landscape that inspired Charles Darwin, Saltbox Hill contains downland and chalk grassland with an adjacent woodland area. The site is home to a variety of wildflowers, containing rare species such as pyramidal orchids, wild basil and quaking grass. Woodland species include woodpecker, nuthatch and treecreeper. [66] | |
Spencer Road Wetlands [69] | 1.1 hectares (2.7 acres) [70] | Sutton 51°23′02″N0°09′48″W / 51.3840°N 0.1634°W TQ 279 666 | No | LNR, [71] SINCM [72] | The site has reed swamps with wetland vegetation, woodland, a sedge-bed and a pond. Insects include the twin-spotted wainscot and crescent moths, and there are birds such as grey herons, reed warblers and kingfishers. [69] | |
Sydenham Hill Wood and Cox's Walk [73] | 28.2 hectares (70 acres) [74] | Southwark 51°26′08″N0°04′04″W / 51.4356°N 0.06785°W TQ 344 725 | Yes | LNR, [75] SINCM [76] | A Victorian folly and trees such a monkey puzzle show that this site was formerly the garden of a villa, but it also has ancient woodland, rare insects, and a variety of flowering plants, fungi, birds and mammals. [73] | |
Ten Acre Wood [77] | 11.2 hectares (28 acres) [78] | Hillingdon 51°32′33″N0°25′10″W / 51.5424°N 0.4195°W TQ 097 838 | Yes | LNR, [79] SINCM [41] | Yeading Brook runs through this 100-year-old oak plantation, which has an underlayer of hawthorn and blackthorn. and areas of marsh and meadow. Birds include hobbies and kingfishers, and there are invertebrates such as Roesel's bush crickets and long winged coneheads. [77] [79] | |
Totteridge Fields [80] | 6.9 hectares (17 acres) [81] | Barnet 51°37′53″N0°14′04″W / 51.6315°N 0.2344°W TQ 223 940 | Yes | LNR, [82] SINCM [83] | This site has hay meadows and hedgerows. There are many butterflies, and flowers include meadow-sweet, hardheads and buttercups. Ditches provide shelter for amphibians. [80] | |
The Warren [84] | 13.5 hectares (33 acres) [85] | Bromley 51°23′33″N0°08′04″E / 51.3925°N 0.1345°E TQ 486 681 | Yes | SINCB1 [86] | Once a part of the Kevington Manor Estate, The Warren is now home to green woodpecker and nuthatch, dragonflies and damselflies. Habitats include oak and birch woodland, a pond and acid grassland with a ground flora of bracken and wildflower. [84] | |
West Kent Golf Course [87] | 6.3 hectares (16 acres) [87] | Bromley 51°19′45″N0°02′54″E / 51.3293°N 0.04826°E TQ 428 609 | FP | SINCM [88] | West Kent Golf Course's habitats include chalk grassland, woodland and scrub. Over 28 species of butterfly have been documented on site, including the rare small blue. Species of rare wildflower are also in abundance, with wild thyme, yellow rattle and swathes of orchids found around the site. [87] | |
Wilderness Island [89] | 2.7 hectares (6.7 acres) [90] | Sutton 51°22′20″N0°09′35″W / 51.3723°N 0.1596°W TQ 282 653 | Yes | LNR, [91] SINCM [72] | The habitats on this site are woodland, meadows, ponds and a river. The ponds are an important habitat which have a variety of wetland plants and trees include a black poplar, which provides a habitat for the rare hornet clearwing moth. Butterflies include the speckled wood and holly blue. [89] | |
Woodberry Wetlands [92] | 12.0 hectares (30 acres) | Hackney 51°34′13″N0°05′19″W / 51.570301°N 0.088585317°W TQ 325 874 | Yes | The site has a large lake used by many birds such as pochard, shoveller and gadwall. Amphibians include frogs, toads and newts, and there is a wide variety of invertebrates such butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies. A rare species on the site is the red-eyed damselfly. [92] | ||
Yeading Brook Meadows [93] | 17.0 hectares (42 acres) [93] | Hillingdon 51°31′44″N0°24′41″W / 51.5288°N 0.4113°W TQ 103 823 | Yes | LNR, [94] SINCM [41] | The site is mainly grassland, with a variety of wild flowers such as the narrow-leaved water-dropwort and common spotted orchid. Invertebrates include Roesel's bush-cricket, shield bug and skipper butterflies, and there are birds such as skylark and snipe. [93] | |
The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres.
Ingrebourne Valley is a local nature reserve (LNR) in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned and managed by Havering Council, and has a visitor centre managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of it is in Hornchurch Country Park west of the River Ingrebourne, but there are also areas north and south of the park which are part of the LNR. It has a wide range of habitats, including woodland, grassland, the river and marshes. It is an important site for a range of species of plants, animals and birds, including great crested newts, slow worms, the harvest mouse and the water vole.
Totteridge Fields is a 97-hectare Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) in Totteridge in the London Borough of Barnet. The SINC includes the privately owned Highwood Hill, and at the western end is a seven-hectare Local Nature Reserve owned by Barnet Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Rowley Green Common is a six hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Importance Metropolitan for Nature Conservation in Arkley, north London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet. It is also registered common land.
Coppetts Wood and Scrublands is a 14.5-hectare (36-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, between Muswell Hill and Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the Coppetts Wood and Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
Oak Hill Wood is a 10-hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation Grade I, in East Barnet, London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet, and part of it is a 5.5-hectare nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Gunnersbury Triangle is a 2.57-hectare (6.4-acre) local nature reserve in Chiswick, in the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow, immediately to the east of Gunnersbury. It was created in 1983 when, for the first time in Britain, a public inquiry ruled that a planned development of the land could not go ahead because of its value for nature. It opened as a nature reserve in 1985.
Ainslie Wood is a 2.03 hectares Local Nature Reserve and a Grade I Site of Nature Conservation Interest surrounded by urban housing in Chingford in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in England. It is owned by Waltham Forest Borough Council and operated by the council with Friends of Ainslie and Larks Woods.
Cranham Brickfields is an 8.5 hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, in Cranham in the London Borough of Havering. It has an area of woodland with a pond, wildflower meadows, and a grassed area with a children's playground. The site was formerly used for excavating clay to make bricks, and during the Second World War vegetables were cultivated as part of the Dig for Victory campaign. Wildlife includes bullfinches, great crested newts, stag beetles and green hairstreak butterflies. There is also dyer's greenweed, which is rare in London.
St John's Wood Church Grounds is a disused graveyard which is now a public park in St. John's Wood in London. It is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, and the only Local Nature Reserve in the City of Westminster. Since 2004 it has received the Green Flag Award for excellent green spaces. It is owned and managed by Westminster Council.
Cranham Marsh is a 15.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Cranham in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned by Havering Council and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Hutchinson's Bank is 21.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in New Addington in the London Borough of Croydon. It is owned by Croydon Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Hogsmill River Park or Hogsmill Valley is a linear park along the banks of the Hogsmill River in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London. It stretches from the junction of Surbiton Hill Park and Elmbridge Avenue in Berrylands in the north to the junction between the river and a footpath to Manor Close in Old Malden in the south.
Gutteridge Wood and Meadows is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Yeading in the London Borough of Hillingdon, which is owned by Hillingdon Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust (LWT). It is also part of the Yeading Brook Meadows Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, which includes two neighbouring reserves managed by the LWT, Ten Acre Wood and Yeading Brook Meadows LNRs.
Ten Acre Wood is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Yeading in the London Borough of Hillingdon, which is owned by Hillingdon Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust (LWT). It is also part of the Yeading Brook Meadows Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), which includes two neighbouring LNRs managed by the LWT, Gutteridge Wood and Meadows and Yeading Brook Meadows LNR.
Each of the 47 Wildlife Trusts is an independent, autonomous charity with its own trustees, whose primary concern is the conservation of nature within its own geographical area.
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