Conservation

London Wildlife Trust has been carrying out conservation activity for over 30 years, guided by our aim to protect and conserve wildlife habitats and species populations within the capital, and to engage Londoners in this work.

Our conservation work is based on conservation best practice and scientific foundations. It is embedded within the Biodiversity Action Plan framework at a national, regional and local level – this helps to identify what is important in London, and help us to prioritise our action accordingly. It also aims to meet the objectives of various open space and planning strategies, for example the London Tree & Woodland Framework, the London Plan, the Water Framework Directive, and the London Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

We aim to address a number of conservation requirements, be they habitat management, targeting the needs of particular wild plants and animals, threats from development, pollution or misuse, or the impacts of species that can cause problems. Our activities cover a broad range of habitats, for example, woodland, rivers and streams, chalk grassland, and wetlands, through which we can also help meet the needs of species identified as conservation priorities (for example, water vole, stag beetle, orchids). However, we recognise the importance of the familiar – the wildlife that Londoners experience on a day-to-day basis, such as blackbird and hedgehog in the garden, trees in the street, or ducks and grey squirrel in the local park – and this is also addressed through our conservation work.

Our conservation activities are delivered through direct land management, advocacy, campaigning, providing advice, raising awareness, the planning process, and through specific projects. We carry out conservation land management directly on our nature reserves, on other land owned by local authorities and private companies, and in partnership with London boroughs, government agencies, community groups, conservation organisations, and corporates. We work collaboratively on a range of projects, for example river catchment restoration, conservation grazing, and designing biodiversity into new development, with a diversity of partners, such as graziers, local authority ecologists, social landlords, landscape architects, and taxonomic specialists.

The bulk of our land management work is delivered by volunteers, many of which have been working on their local patch for many years. This is complemented by a staff team and the assistance of external partners, who play a critical role in securing the necessary resources to enable us to continue our conservation work into the future.

We encourage Londoners to play their part in conservation. You can join us in reserve management, or give wildlife a helping hand in your garden, estate or local park. You can register your objection to planning applications that may damage or destroy important wildlife habitats, and lend your support to campaigns that aim to benefit nature within London. And you can let us know – via Greenspace Information for Greater London – what species you have seen so that we can help track the trends in the populations of various wild animals and plants in London.

In London, two other government departments are also critically important; Communities & Local Government is responsible for planning, housing and urban greenspaces, whilst DCMS oversees the work of the Royal Parks, the Olympics and museums.

Conservation

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