Nature And Landscape

London as a Wetland City: Restoring London’s freshwater habitats and climate resilience through fairer community engagement

Our vision is diverse communities across London protecting and restoring healthy freshwater habitats and supporting thriving populations of priority species, while connecting to our unique natural heritage, by: (1)Facilitating a coordinated approach to gathering evidence on freshwater habitat condition between NGOs, the environmental regulator, and landowners. (2)Co-developing plans with local groups to reduce community science engagement barriers. (3)Integrating community-generated evidence into regional conservation plans, including the GLA’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan that highlight freshwaters as critical for biodiversity and climate resilience. (4)Designing a training and certification pathway for diverse Londoners into science and conservation. (5)Delivering community science taster days and women and minority youth-led community science workshops. (6)Celebrating volunteers and spotlighting underrepresented voices at an annual community science forum, offering mentorship and skills development. By prioritising inclusive engagement in underserved boroughs, we will close key data gaps and support London’s freshwater ecosystem recovery.