Improving Biodiversity

Andy Weston, our Riverside and Open Spaces Lead, recently spent a day with The Conservation Volunteers, a group with the objective of improving biodiversity in our area. We worked on completing stag beetle breeding sites and a “bee bank” in the Broom Road open space. These are sited on the raised area parallel with the river beyond the playing fields. If you are in the area it is worth a short walk to look at the work completed.

Stag Beetle Loggery

The stag beetle nesting site is a pit where upright tree trunks are buried up to 90% of their height with only 10% above ground (like an iceberg).The pit is then filled in with soil. As stag beetles spend the first 5 to 6 years of their lifetime in rotting wood it is hoped that these sites will encourage this type of biodiversity in the area.

Bee Bank

The bee bank is a bank of sand which should encourage solitary bees to nest. The volunteers have erected a wooden explanatory sign next to the bank.

If you would like to participate, please have a look at the group website at tcv.org.uk/richmond. You will be asked to fill in a form prior to taking part and the activities are then managed through Eventbrite.

Please note not all the activities of the volunteers are in the Teddington area but are mainly local, with a lot of work in Crane Park and other Twickenham and Whitton locations.

28 Oct 2025