Wild about supporting our nature

Waltham Forest Council has successfully secured more than £350,000 to support the ecosystems in and around the River Ching – all with the aim of boosting biodiversity, supporting local communities and enhancing the borough’s resilience against extreme weather. 

Supported by the Mayor of London’s Green Roots Fund, the funding will be used for the next stage of the council’s Waltham Forest Wildways Project – which has already helped deliver a range of successful, community-led initiatives focused on supporting nature, improving green spaces, and connecting habitats through wildlife corridors. 

Over the next three years, the next stage of the programme, Wildways: Along the Ching, will enhance habitats and improve the biodiversity of the River Ching, which winds for 10km through the borough. 

Work will focus along Wadham meadow and woodland, the banks of the Ching, and greening and depaving on the Aldriche Way Estate. There will also be a focus on number of smaller areas between Walthamstow Marshes and Epping Forest, with the aim of creating stepping stones of ecological connectivity between these two vital urban spaces for nature and biodiversity.

Local communities in these areas are also set to benefit too, with projects planned to support people from all backgrounds connect with the nature on their doorstep, as well as measures to boost flood resilience in local neighbourhoods. 

Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality said: “I’m delighted that the council has successfully secured more than £350,000 to support the next stage of our ambitious Waltham Forest Wildways Project.  

“The River Ching is a really special part of our borough’s natural environment, and we’re committed to protecting and enhancing the green and blue spaces in and around it. It winds between Epping Forest in the north, and Walthamstow Marshes in the south and creating corridors and stepping-stones between the two is at the heart of what the this project is about.”

Waltham Forest Wildways has already seen £75,000 of investment to support biodiversity and improve green spaces in the borough.

Queens Road Cemetery and St James Park and Cheshire Fields Allotments in Walthamstow have all seen a range of nature-friendly measures introduced, from climate resilient planting and wildflower meadow to bee-friendly nesting posts, banks and paths. This is now benefitting not only pollinators, but other species like birds, mammals, butterflies. 

Wildways: from Markhouse to Marshes project has also seen local residents leading the way on turning underused areas into natural spaces for wildlife and people by planting, and by working to boost pollinator species such as bees. 

Cllr Loakes continued: “Our residents and local volunteer groups are at the heart of what makes the Wildways Project so successful.

“Our ongoing nature-recovery and climate action plans are putting communities at the forefront of securing this positive change and we will continue to work together to boost biodiversity and access to green spaces in the borough.”

• Find out about how the council is Helping Nature Thrive.
• Wildways: Along the Ching will work alongside the Ching Action Plan, which was announced last month, in partnership with the environmental charity Thames21. This initiative is creating a more natural environment for wildlife and fish species and restoring the river’s natural flow.
• The Waltham Forest Wildways Project is in partnership with Aldriche Way Estate TRA (tenants and residents association), Artillery, Ching Action Group, East London Waterworks Park, Highams Park Snedders, Organic Lea, The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) and the Hive.