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

Biodiversity Blogs:

• 31 January, 2024: Big Garden Birdwatch

• 6 May, 2024: Bugging out our Network

• 20 November: “Magical” Moth Night