Get involved
Help the park thrive.
Ways to help this week, what small changes could add for nature, and how to hear about volunteer days.
Do something good
The park needs a few more friends.
Join the river volunteers
The Quaggy Waterways Action Group has cared for this river for over 35 years: clean-ups, river days and pulling invasive Himalayan balsam before it seeds.
qwag.org.ukRecord what you see
Every confirmed sighting adds to the park's species count and to the records that guide how it is looked after.
inaturalist.orgPut the park on the map
Only part of the park's meadow and grassland is mapped on OpenStreetMap, the free map this site is drawn from. Adding it helps everyone.
openstreetmap.orgReport pollution
If the river changes colour, smells, or foams, call the Environment Agency's 24-hour line. Note where and when.
0800 80 70 60Run, walk or volunteer
A free 5k around the park every Saturday morning. Volunteers make it happen.
parkrun.org.uk/sutcliffeKeep the wild corners wild
Stay on the paths in the nature reserve, keep dogs out of the ponds and reedbeds, and take litter home.
More life per square metre
Small changes, measured.
Since 2024, most new building projects in England must leave nature at least 10% better off than they found it. The gain is measured in biodiversity units, with a government metric that scores each kind of habitat by how rare and how healthy it is. The same measure shows what small changes in a park could add.
Indicative only. Scores from the statutory biodiversity metric (Defra, version 1.0.4): mown grass counted as modified grassland in poor condition (low distinctiveness, 2 units per hectare); new habitat at moderate condition (meadow and scrub medium distinctiveness, 8 units per hectare; reedbed high, 12). The full metric also discounts for the years a habitat takes to establish and how hard it is to create, and a real assessment starts with a site survey.
Keepers news
Hear about volunteer days and the species hunt.
An occasional email from neighbours who look after Kidbrooke's wild places. Unsubscribe any time.