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 Google map. What can and should we do about it?
Why go wild?
How does wilding and naturalising our green spaces help our wellbeing and mitigate the biodiversity and climate crises? Find out here.
At home, ideas and advice for gardeners
Growing tips for green gardeners is currently being updated and organised.
Public green spaces
Guidance for councils, contractors, Friends’ groups, and for anyone who wants to encourage them to go wild
Wildlife resources and advice
Local and national sources of information and guidance
What is Kingston Council doing?
Find out here, with links to relevant Council web-pages.
Why do outdoor volunteering?
- You will meet nice people and probably learn something interesting about nature conservation or growing 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
Sharing outdoor opportunities
TTK is creating a list of outdoor volunteering opportunities in the borough (see Outdoor volunteering opportunities in Kingston that we have compiled so far), 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.