Leave no trace

Please ‘Leave No Trace’ and protect wildlife by taking rubbish home or putting it in bins if there is space. Please do not leave rubbish beside full bins as it will blow away and animals could either ingest the rubbish or become entangled by it.

For example, small animals and birds can climb inside plastic bags or get stuck in bottles or cans and suffocate. Wildlife attracted to left-over scraps can accidently eat plastic waste, clogging up their intestines, causing them pain or even death by starvation. Deer become distressed if they get plastic bags tangled in their antlers and can cause a stampede which is dangerous to the public.

It is illegal to leave litter in the Royal Parks and, under the park regulations, offenders could be fined.

Hot coals and dry grass don’t mix. When the ground is extremely dry, grassland will burn quickly if exposed to even the smallest of sparks. Grassland fires destroy invertebrate communities, including butterflies and beetles, as well as small mammals including lizards, grass snakes, frogs and newts which may be sheltering amongst the vegetation.

Veteran trees that support a host of wildlife are also vulnerable to fire. Over the years we’ve seen 700-year-old trees set alight from disposable barbecues. Tree fires destroy nature as the smoke chokes roosting bats and baby chicks in their nests, burns grass snake’s nests and obliterates the rare invertebrates and fungi communities that feed on the dead or decaying wood of veteran and ancient trees.

It is illegal to light a barbecue in any of the Royal Parks.

There is an abundance of natural food in the parks which offers wildlife a balanced diet and helps them lead a wild, natural, and ultimately better life. Visitors feeding animals upsets the park’s delicate ecosystem; leftover food can attract rats, water quality can be impacted through uneaten soggy bread and waterfowl faeces, and excessive feeding can encourage large groups of birds such as gulls and crows who bully other birds, stealing their eggs or eating their young.

Find out more about our initiative to #KeepWildifeWild here.

Acid grassland is priority habitat in the London Biodiversity Action Plan, and Richmond Park and Bushy Park have some of the largest areas in the Capital  of this valuable and delicate grassland habitat. These habitats develop on low nutrient acidic soils and support a number of rare flowering plants and a huge number of ground dwelling and burrowing invertebrates such as solitary bees and wasps, both of which are vital pollinators. The grassland is vulnerable to nutrient enrichment, which can change the PH of the soil and therefore affect the plants that grow there and the animals that depend on them. It’s vital therefore that dog poo is picked up and disposed of properly.

There is an estimated 450,000 anthills in Richmond Park, home to over three billion yellow meadow ants. These ants are critical to the creation of wildlife rich acid grassland habitats, working as architects and engineers to create their underground homes and the anthills that you can see above ground. The varied microtopography and microclimate that they create support a high diversity of flora and fauna, for example producing warm areas for butterflies and lizards to bask, and patches of bare soil for solitary bees and wasps to make nests and wildflower seeds to germinate. These ants are also an important food source for wildlife including birds such as the green woodpecker. Next time you pass one of these mini wildlife havens, take care not to step on them, and instead take a moment to see how many plants and animals you can spot.

Some oak trees (particularly those found in Richmond, Bushy and Greenwich Parks) are up to 800 years old. Deadwood (such as stumps, rot holes and fallen limbs) supports a huge diversity of wildlife from birds and beetles to bats. Richmond and Bushy Park’s populations of saproxylic invertebrates (insects that require dead wood as part of its life cycle) is one of the many reasons these parks were designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England.

Instead of clearing decayed logs and fallen branches, park teams are increasingly leaving them where they fall to ‘Help Nature Thrive.’ Deadwood is a natural part of the lifecycle of a tree and the cracks in trees and broken branches allow fungi inside which plays an important part in the park’s ecosystems. Fungi such as chicken-of-the-woods or beefsteak fungus break down the deadwood inside, softening the wood to make it palatable for invertebrates. Fungi assisted tree hollowing is a natural part of the ageing process and can help extend the life of an ancient tree as the process makes the tree lighter and more stable, whilst also providing homes for birds and bats.

Many fungi and invertebrates are reliant on very specific types of deadwood in specific locations – from fallen logs in the sun to those in shade, from the tips of branches to the rotten deadwood in the heart of veteran trees. So, the simple act of moving fallen deadwood can inadvertently damage a very delicate and unusual ecosystem.

Please help us support nature and #LeaveNoTrace by not picking up deadwood or collecting fungi.

Since the 1970s over 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost in the UK. We are doing our bit to help reverse this loss. In 2020 alone, we sowed 19,000m² (equivalent to 28 championship tennis courts) with seed from 73 species of native grasses and wildflowers.

Wildflower meadows provide shelter and food for many insects including pollinators, and in turn support many birds and bats that feed on invertebrates. Meadows also provide shelter for small mammals such as hedgehogs, field voles, lizards and toads.

Visitors can ‘Leave No Trace’ by sticking to paths and not trampling on or picnicking in meadows as apart from flattening the vegetation, which can smother delicate wildflowers and prevent flowering and seeding, you could be stomping on caterpillars or sitting on ladybirds. Compaction of the ground can also deter plant growth and have a long-term impact on the meadows.