Wandsworth Council is asking residents to help design its new Biodiversity Action Plan – a two-year roadmap that will determine where wildlife habitats are created, how much money is spent on different conservation activities, and what opportunities exist for community involvement.
A new public survey, running until October 2nd, is the final stage of a year-long planning process that began in 2024 and received formal approval from the council’s Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee in June 2025.
What is a Biodiversity Action Plan?
While Wandsworth’s 2020 Biodiversity Strategy [pdf] set broad goals like “protect wildlife” and “enhance habitats,” the Action Plan specifies exactly how those goals will be achieved over the next two years. It functions as an operational document that translates policy into concrete actions, budgets, and timelines.
The plan will identify specific locations for habitat creation, outline which species need targeted support, and detail how residents can participate in conservation activities. It will also establish monitoring systems to track progress and determine future priorities.
The Planning Process
Development of the Action Plan began in 2024 with a borough-wide survey conducted in partnership with Greenspace Information for Greater London (GIGL). This initial engagement encouraged residents to record wildlife sightings in their gardens to build the evidence base for the plan.
In early 2025, a cross-council workshop brought together different departments to identify opportunities for collaboration. The process examined how housing, transport, and parks teams could coordinate biodiversity efforts across their respective areas of responsibility.
Public engagement began in May 2025 and should continue through the summer with in-person sessions involving resident associations, community groups, and local stakeholders. The current online survey represents the culmination of this engagement process.
In June, the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewed presentations on biodiversity projects, partnership opportunities, and development priorities before approving the engagement approach and timeline [pdf].
What the Survey Asks
The survey seeks to prioritize different types of action and identify community preferences for involvement. Key questions include:
- Which locations need habitat improvements most urgently
- Whether creating new habitats or connecting existing ones should take priority
- How residents prefer to learn about and engage with local biodiversity efforts
- What types of community programs would be most valuable
Residents are asked to rank four main action areas: creating habitats in key locations, connecting habitats through corridors, supporting community engagement, and collecting monitoring data. These rankings will directly influence resource allocation in the final plan.
Current Context
Wandsworth is home to over 4,000 species across 24 different habitat types, from the nationally important heathland on Wimbledon Common to the Thames riverside. The borough has 31 designated Local Wildlife Sites, with 15 owned and managed by the council.
Since 2020, the council reports creating 2.2 hectares of new habitat and planting over 2,600 street trees. Recent projects include wildflower meadows at King George’s Park and Fishponds Playing Fields, where new butterfly species have been recorded.
The council currently supports 125 citizen scientists who contributed over 400 hours of monitoring time in 2024. All council-owned Local Wildlife Sites are under active management programs.
Survey responses collected through 2 October will be analysed and incorporated into a draft Action Plan. The final document is expected to be presented to Cabinet for adoption in autumn 2025, with implementation beginning in early 2026.
The plan will run for two years, with regular monitoring and review built into the process. Partnership arrangements with neighboring boroughs, Network Rail, Transport for London, and other major landowners will be formalized as part of implementation.
Why Resident Input Matters
Local knowledge often reveals opportunities and challenges that desk-based planning misses. Last year’s “On Your Street” survey identified how private gardens were already creating wildlife corridors through resident initiatives like hedgehog highways and pollinator-friendly planting.
The Action Plan aims to coordinate these existing efforts with council activities and identify where additional support or resources could increase impact. Survey responses will help determine which community programs to prioritise and where habitat creation efforts should focus.
The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and covers topics from personal connection to nature through to priorities for council action. Questions about demographics and local knowledge help ensure the plan reflects the full range of community perspectives.
Responses can be submitted online until Thursday 2 October.
