Dr Georgina Fauconier, Biodiversity Officer at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, will be speaking to the Kingston Society about the Hogsmill, wildlife across the borough and the practical work being undertaken to improve Kingston’s natural environment.

Her background makes the Hogsmill a particularly appropriate place to begin. Dr Fauconier trained as an aquatic scientist and has undertaken research into river and estuarine ecology, pollution and the effects of contaminants on wildlife. Before joining Kingston Council she worked with the South East Rivers Trust, where her work included the Hogsmill catchment and projects concerned with river restoration, water quality and habitat improvement.

Her talk will start with the Council’s current policies and strategies before looking at how these are being applied through individual projects and partnerships. One important part of that background is Kingston’s Biodiversity Action Plan, launched in 2023, which sets out the borough’s priorities for protecting habitats and species and for improving the connections between them.

The plan recognises a remarkably varied natural landscape within a densely populated London borough. Kingston contains the Thames, the Hogsmill and other streams, woodland, grassland, ponds, hedgerows and a network of nature reserves and Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation. Among the species given particular attention are water voles, bats, swifts, hedgehogs, stag beetles, amphibians and reptiles.

The Hogsmill provides perhaps the clearest example of what putting such a strategy into practice can involve. It is one of London’s relatively rare chalk streams, but it is also an urban river facing the consequences of development, road runoff, sewage and misconnections, historic alterations to the channel and barriers to the movement of fish and other wildlife.

In recent years Kingston Council, the South East Rivers Trust and other partners have been working on a series of projects intended to repair some of that damage. These include restoring more natural river channels, creating wetlands and backwaters, improving habitats for fish and invertebrates, monitoring water quality and tackling barriers to wildlife movement.

The Chamber Mead wetland, close to the Hogsmill, illustrates how several objectives can come together in one project. Wetland planting helps treat polluted water before it reaches the river while also creating new habitat, providing greater resilience to flooding and offering a richer landscape for people using the area. Similar thinking can be seen elsewhere along the river, where sections of previously constrained channel are being given greater variety through changes in flow, planting and physical structure.

(Image ©  The Wildlife Trusts)

Water voles are another visible part of the story. Once widespread along British waterways, they have suffered dramatic national decline. The Hogsmill has become the focus of a major reintroduction and habitat programme involving the Council, conservation organisations and volunteers. Riverfly monitoring and other citizen-science projects are also helping to build a better picture of the ecological health of the river.

Beyond the Hogsmill, biodiversity work extends into Kingston’s parks, ponds, grasslands and streets. Projects have included pond restoration, changes in grass-cutting regimes to support pollinators, habitat improvements at nature reserves, bat monitoring and attempts to strengthen the ecological connections between different parts of the borough.

That broader picture may prove one of the most interesting aspects of Dr Fauconier’s talk. The Biodiversity Action Plan provides the policy framework, but its success ultimately depends upon what happens in individual places, sometimes through substantial restoration schemes and sometimes through much smaller changes to the way land, water and vegetation are managed.

For a borough facing considerable pressure for new housing and development, the question of how wildlife can continue to thrive alongside a growing town is likely to become increasingly important. Dr Fauconier’s presentation should offer an opportunity to understand what Kingston is already doing, what is happening along one of its most important natural corridors, and how the Council hopes to turn its biodiversity ambitions into lasting changes on the ground.