We're working in partnership across the UK to start a new urban nature movement.
It has never been more important to make our towns and cities healthy and sustainable places to live.
Wildlife is in trouble in the UK. We need to monitor how biodiversity is changing in cities and towns so we can understand and protect the nature around us.
We're working to give people across the UK, no matter who they are or where they live, the motivation and tools to safeguard nature in towns and cities, so that people and planet can thrive.
The Museum's gardens are closed
The Museum's gardens are closed until early 2024 while we create an accessible and biologically diverse green space dedicated to urban nature.
Transforming the Museum gardens
The Museum's five-acre site in South Kensington is being transformed into a welcoming, accessible and biologically diverse green space in the heart of London.
The new outdoor galleries will be a place for people to learn about the diversity of life on Earth and how our planet is changing over time. They will also showcase the Museum's scientific research.
In the new gardens, we are:
- improving access to the garden with universal step-free routes across the site
- doubling the amount of wildlife habitat on our grounds and creating a fabulous setting for our historic building.
Working with local groups, we are co-creating activities and resources for family learning in the new gardens. The programme includes learning about plants and animals found in London, self-guided experiences and nature-friendly crafts and activities.
We are also developing a new volunteer programme and will have a summer programme for 35 school leavers.
An expanded schools programme at the Museum will allow schools to explore the gardens, with a focus on building a connection with nature, valuing biodiversity and actions that help nature.
The Museum's redesigned grounds will be a space for families and scientists alike to learn more about urban nature.
Support the project
This momentous project will not be possible without your help.
Right now, you have the opportunity to make your mark in the Museum gardens like never before. From sponsoring a square metre of garden to dedicating a bench to a loved one, a donation to the Urban Nature Project is the perfect way to show your love for urban wildlife.
Your donation could help us to transform our biologically diverse gardens, inspire the next generation to love and care for urban wildlife or support our scientists in their fight to halt biodiversity decline.
The science
The Urban Nature Project is developing new scientific tools and skills urgently needed to monitor, understand and protect urban nature.
Understanding how wildlife is responding to change requires large volumes of data. The Museum is taking the lead in convening a national partnership of urban nature professionals, including academic researchers and conservation practitioners.
The gardens will become a hub for urban nature identification and field survey skills. We are piloting a range of technologies for monitoring change in urban environments, including eDNA and acoustic monitoring, and sharing these with our partners alongside a DNA library and teaching collection.
Bioacoustics, the study of individual species sounds, and ecoacoustics, the study of all the sounds at a given place, are key ways to monitor biodiversity. New recording technologies allow for continuous monitoring, but most of this research is done in areas without the challenges of urban noise.
We will be installing acoustic recorders in the new gardens to listen to the gardens and also the pond, soil and inside trees. The rich data we collect will be analysed in a way that allows us to identify what species live in the Urban Nature Project gardens and to compare this to other measures of biodiversity, such as eDNA.
We are also developing a new public-facing biodiversity and environmental monitoring data ecosystem to help capture, share and interpret urban nature data.
The Museum's biodiversity officer, Sam Thomas, shows us how he is studying the Museum's Wildlife Garden to learn more about the animals and plants that live there.
Learning from a prairie garden
Museum scientists have found 58 tiny animal species living underground in the Prairie Garden space on Lancaster West Estate.
We are working with London’s Grow2Know as they help local residents to plant and maintain their own prairie garden and find out more about the species living near them.
Working with young people
Museum staff are working with organisations across the UK to inspire the next generation, creating new opportunities for young people in cities and helping everyone learn about humanity's impact on the natural world.
The Explore: Urban Nature programme is supporting teachers and students. It provides training for teachers, curriculum-linked learning resources, hands-on outdoor workshops and a new community science project informed by student ideas and questions.
In partnership with the Prince’s Trust, we have created a Youth Worker Toolkit to support informal ways of learning. It equips youth workers with activities and conversation starters they can use with young people to open the door to nature around them.
We also have developed a Youth Advisory Panel to give young people a voice. So far, we have heard from 24 young people, and supported their personal development and skills.
Read more about the Urban Nature Project
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NewsWork begins on the Museum's landmark garden redevelopment
The works are part of the wider Urban Nature Project.
8 September 2022 -
Our plans for the gardens
Read more about the developing plans for the Museum's grounds.
6 April 2020 -
Our response to your feedback
We wanted to know what you think of our plans for the gardens.
3 August 2020 -
The unequal barriers in making nature accessible to all: A Youth Advisory Panel report
A Youth Advisory Panel has discussed access to the natural world with Museum staff.
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A history of the Museum grounds and Wildlife Garden
Take a stroll through the gardens of the past.
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British wildlifeTwenty-five years of wildlife discoveries in the Museum garden
Wildlife Garden ecologist Sylvia Myers introduces some of our favourite finds and how we monitor the plants and animals present.
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British wildlifeWhat happens to frogs and dragonflies when their pond disappears?
Natural ponds come and go. They fill up when it's wet and empty when it's dry. Pond wildlife has learnt to live in these changeable worlds in remarkable ways.
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Urban wildlife
Find out about creatures you're likely to encounter in towns and cities around the world and how you can help them.
Funding
We thank all those who have generously contributed to the Urban Nature Project, including:
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