Conserving nature, wildlife, biodiversity, (re)wilding, green and blue infrastructure ... have not been traditional Transition Town Kingston pursuits, though we hosted a "Living Landscapes - making space for nature in Kingston" panel discussion back in 2012 (read the report here), and it has become increasingly clear that the natural world is not just good for wildlife but for people and planet as well. Greenery has an important part to play in reducing carbon emissions and some of the damaging effects of our lifestyles and climate change, such as urban heating, pollution and flooding.
Kingston has its partly green riversides (the Thames and the Hogsmill) and is surrounded by large biodiverse green spaces, but access to them is uneven, some of our parks, gardens, roadside verges and other local green spaces are over-manicured green deserts, and they do not connect up to provide green corridors for wildlife movement, foraging and habitats - see this map. What can and should we do about it? We suggested one answer in Greening Kingston – an Open Letter, in July 2025.
We can suport conservation and wilding activities and biodiversity corridors...:
Find more here on the benefits of going wild: how wilding and naturalising our public and private green spaces help our wellbeing and mitigate the biodiversity and climate crises. For how to make a start at home see also Growing tips for green gardeners.
We can volunteer outdoors:
- You will meet nice people and probably learn something interesting about nature conservation or growing wildflowers and edibles...
- You will do something useful - anyone can and will see the results with a bit of guidance and patience.
- Fresh produce - herbs, vegetables, fruit - from a garden taste much better than produce from a shop, and come with less packaging!
- You will get exercise in the fresh air, good for your physical health.
- You will connect with nature and a local green space, good for your mental health and wellbeing: Community plots provide social benefits and can lessen supply shocks, supporters say
Find and share outdoor opportunities:
TTK supports Canbury Community Garden (where volunteers with all levels of gardening skills are always welcome) and there are others in the borough - see Community gardens in Kingston to find one near you. or TTK Food page or Kingston Environment News for a selection of other volunteering opportunities; you could also try searching Connected Kingston for conservation/outdoor/gardening volunatry activities.
We would like to expand our list of gardening and outdoor volunteering opportunities in the borough, so that people can find somewhere near them where they can grow food in a community garden or look after nature in a conservation project, sharing skills while getting healthy exercise and meeting other people. Help us to build a complete picture (it might be a list, it might be a map, it could be both...) and help your green project to attract more volunteers and thrive, by emailing us as much of the the following information as you can provide:
- Name of project
- Address, with postcode if possible
- A sentence about your gardening project
- Volunteering days and times
- Website and/or Facebook page
- A contact email or phone number
These pages are regularly edited and updated - please contact us if you spot errors, broken or obsolete links, or info we could usefully add.