Friends of Grove Farm is pleased to announce that it has been awarded funding from the Mayor of London’s Rewild London Fund. The grant will support the group’s project, “Empowering Community Conservation at Grove Farm” aimed at enhancing and restoring the Grove Farm, a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).

The Rewild London Fund, supported by the Mayor of London and run in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust, supports projects that enhance and restore London’s SINCs. The fund is a crucial initiative to conserve London’s biodiversity and ensure its resilience to pressures like climate change. 

The project will enable the restoration of Grove Farm through the creation of a conservation management plan to guide future work and the restoration of unmanaged woodland and grassland. The project will run from May 2024 to March 2025. It aims to make Grove Farm a bigger, better, and more connected part of the SINC network.

Grove Farm, a Borough Grade I SINC, offers a complex mosaic of habitats and is home to London Priority Species such as breeding tawny owls, common and soprano pipistrelle bats, slow worms, and skipper butterflies. The site’s significance lies not only in its ecological richness but also in its strategic position as a stepping stone between green spaces in Harrow on the Hill and Horsenden Hill.

The project involves collaboration between Friends of Grove Farm, Ealing Council, David Lloyd and an ecological consultancy hired through this funding. We will also be supported by the Biological Recording Company, The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), the London Amphibian and Reptile Group (LARG).  

The first project output is a conservation management plan covering the entire SINC and the adjacent green space. An ecological consultancy will conduct surveys to establish baseline biodiversity data, and a consultant will work with Friends of Grove Farm and Ealing Council to develop recommendations for effective conservation management to increase biodiversity and resilience.

We will then undertake three habitat improvement projects

• Woodland Restoration: revitalising previously unmanaged woodland for greater biodiversity

• Wet Woodland Creation: enhancing water retention to foster biodiversity and habitat resilience.

• Meadow Restoration: preventing meadow conversion to scrub and woodland

To ensure long-term sustainability, the project will engage the local community and build the capacity of Friends of Grove Farm. There will be opportunities for volunteers to be involved in every step of the process. We will be hosting conservation volunteer days to help with the habitat improvement projects as well as engaging activities to learn how to conserve urban green spaces as well as how to observe and record local wildlife. All are welcome to take part. 

For more information about the project and our events, please join our Facebook Group or sign up to our newsletter. If you are interested in volunteering, we would love to hear from you. Any time you have spare, no matter how small, helps to support our work, please see our contact page.