What is the Camden BeeLine?

The Camden Beeline is a community project that aims to increase green space and biodiversity across the Borough of Camden by creating a connected pollinator pathway of of trees, plants and rewilded space. Together, let’s turn concrete and paving, into a Camden Beeline.  Our Camden Beeline map will link up green spaces all over the Borough, creating a better environment for both the people and the wildlife of Camden. As we connect our green spaces, we connect our community.

Our focus is on creating Beelines within and between Camden schools and businesses by encouraging and supporting pollinator-friendly wild gardening and growing on any space they have access to, from window sills to playing fields.

If you are already making local spaces near you more welcoming to local pollinators we’d love to hear from you via our CONTACT page – so we can get in touch and add you to our Camden Beeline map.

Why?

The Camden BeeLine project has been created to improve the following three areas in Camden; biodiversity, air quality, and wellbeing. Click on the images below to find out more about these areas and how this project will have a positive impact on each of them. 

Creating urban green spaces also achieves a biodiversity net-gain. A biodiversity net gain occurs when an intervention increases the biodiversity of a given area. Action taken in cities, including creating ponds for amphibians, planting wildflower areas and providing nest boxes and food for songbirds have been shown to improve the populations and diversity of wildlife including bees, bats, birds, insects and hedgehogs (Sutherland et al. 2020; Webb & Moxon, 2021). Wildflower planting in small areas, defined as less than 20 m2, had more biodiversity than larger green spaces, and this effect is increased if lots of small green spaces are connected (Vega & Kuffer, 2021).

Greening can also reduce carbon emissions and help to achieve the UK’s Net Zero target. Trees can both store carbon in their tissue, and, as they grow, sequester carbon. An estimated over 2.3 million tonnes (approximately 15t/ha) of carbon is stored in London’s trees with an estimated value of £147 million (Rogers et al., 2020).The net sequestration is estimated at 65,534 tonnes of carbon per year (approximately 2.4 t/yr/ha). The value of this sequestered carbon is estimated at £3.9 million pounds per year (Rogers et al., 2020). This value will only increase as the trees grow and as the social cost of carbon (its value per tonne) increases. 

How?

Schools

Helping to rewild green spaces is fun, and links to so many parts of school learning. Some schools are planting orchards and learning how to be tree guardians to help them thrive. Others are digging in ponds and hedgerows or sowing wildflower meadows. How about designing and making some welcoming ‘bug hotels’, wildlife shelters and hibernation havens? Whatever space you have, we are here to offer advice.

Schools

Businesses

The business BeeLine is an opportunity for businesses to get creative with their space. By applying for a small grant through the BeeLine, businesses will receive funding to re-wild and green any space they have, from window sills and pavements, to court yards and flat roofs. The BeeLine team will provide the options to choose from and support along the way from growing to maintaining. Find out more about the options today!

Businesses

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Partners

This project has been created by different groups coming together across the community. Led by The Camden Clean Air Initiative and Think & Do Camden, in collaboration with Camden council, the Camden BeeLine project brings together different groups across the three main topics of biodiversity, air quality, and wellbeing.