The status will become a reality by 2019, say those behind an ambitious plan to connect city-dwellers to nature and make London a world leader in biodiversity
An ambitious plan to turn London into the world’s first national park city has received the backing of the mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the majority of ward counsellors. It could now happen by 2019, and campaigners are calling on Londoners to back it by ‘rewilding’ as much of the urban landscape as possible.
“Already 47 per cent of the city is physically green because of our parks and gardens, and 2.5 per cent is blue because of our waterways,” said Daniel Raven-Ellison, founder of the London National Park City campaign. “We only need 0.5 per cent more green space to ensure that half of London is either green or blue.”
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Installing green roofs, replacing concrete in gardens and putting plant pots on balconies could help the city reach the milestone, he said.
“Just letting part of gardens go feral is wonderful for wildlife. If everyone was to turn just 1 square metre of their home or garden into a green space, more of London would be green than grey.”
A former geography teacher, Raven-Ellison founded the campaign four years ago, after…
