Biodiversity

Documenting, protecting and improving biodiversity in London

Energy Garden is committed to cultivating engaging community growing spaces that are rich in biodiversity.  

Biodiversity surveys

Energy Garden is measuring our progress using a community science approach. We are conducting annual biodiversity surveys of each garden with the community groups that work with us in these spaces.  This is a new initiative for Energy Garden and our baseline findings are detailed in the 2023 Energy Garden Biodiversity Report.  

Additional biodiversity engagement

Energy Garden has introduced a new mix of biodiversity-focused programming.  Wherever possible, we have also incorporated data collection so that we can contribute to other community science research projects. This is best represented by Energy Garden’s project page on iNaturalist. It has created a centralised and dynamic platform where volunteers can document biodiversity. In 2023 we made 2799 observations of 901 different species in our gardens and beyond.  

Biodiversity-friendly garden management

We are now able to incorporate the findings from our biodiversity surveys into our garden management plans. As a team, we can develop new ideas with our community groups to ensure success in our goal of maintaining and improving biodiversity in our spaces. We have lots of exciting projects planned for 2024 including more wildflower meadows, new edible crop rotations, diversifying scrubland, and more regularly cared for animal habitats like bird boxes and bug hotels.

2023 Biodiversity Content

Recent event spotlight: Big Garden Birdwatch takes flight with Energy Garden

24 species of birds, oh my!  

Ellen, Energy Garden’s Biodiversity Lead, is here to tell you about our first time participating in the RSPB ‘s Big Garden Birdwatch on the 26th and 27th of January. 

I had lots of fun running three birdwatching sessions over the weekend with our volunteers. We followed the RSPB’s instructions and counted 82 individual birds of 24 different species during these hour-long surveys!  

At Brondesbury Park, we were lucky to have a sun-filled afternoon and saw a great-spotted woodpecker for the first time amongst our trees.

Like birds, we were quick on our feet when rail closures didn’t allow us to access our Hampstead Heath Station platform garden.  Our group decided to perch between one of the ponds and a patch of woodland in Hampstead Heath, so we got to see an amazing mix of species. 

A hush fell over Bush Hill Park when a sparrowhawk stopped by.  I interrupted this though as I immediately yelled with excitement once I spotted it.  Once the bird of prey was gone, the birdsongs slowly returned. I will work on my birdwatching etiquette for next time! 

Including our observations, the RSPB has reported over 6.9 million birds observed so far in this year's event. This builds on the 45 years of citizen science collected data in what has become the UK’s largest citizen science event. This information will help Energy Garden as we continue creating and managing wildlife-friendly gardens. 

I am looking forward to more biodiversity-focused sessions this year. Check out our events page to see what’s coming up.

See you soon! - Ellen