Using open spaces to remove carbon
Natural habitats absorb carbon dioxide from the air and lock them into soil and plants. This is called carbon sequestration or carbon removals and it reduces the level of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
The City of London Corporation's Open Spaces already absorbs a lot of carbon each year. To increase this, we are using a Carbon Removals project to investigate which other land management schemes will decrease carbon levels more.
Wildflower meadow in Patmore's Field
The City Corporation protects Epping Forest and its adjacent ‘Buffer Lands’. In 2021, a 42-acre wildflower meadow was sown at Patmore’s Field in High Beach as part of the Climate Action Strategy Carbon Removals Project. A mixture of 26 native UK-grown wildflower and grass seeds were sown including carrot, cowslip and ragged robin.
Two ponds were dug in October 2022. When filled with rainwater they will provide complementary habitat which will support more wildlife.
This project supports the City Corporation’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions for its own operations by 2027 and supporting the achievement of net zero of the Square Mile by 2040.
In this video, you can see the creation of the wildflower meadow and learn about its benefits.
The video below has no commentary
How does the meadow contribute to achieving net zero?
Plants use the energy of sunlight, and through photosynthesis they remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. In the process of converting CO2 into plant matter they release oxygen into the air, and lock CO2 into plant material and, most importantly, through their roots and into the soil.
The wildflower meadow, planted on a previously cultivated but low-quality arable field, will lock atmospheric carbon into the soil under this new permanent grassland and boost biodiversity by creating new wildlife habitats for a range of species, whilst improving water storage and soil health. Importantly, this new meadow is close to other flower-rich grasslands in the Forest and so its value for wildlife will be increased, for example by providing greater connectivity for pollinating insects.
"Climate change is a serious issue affecting everyone on the planet. It is clear green spaces can play a major role in cutting carbon from the atmosphere. This project demonstrates our commitment to tackling this global problem at a local level and it’s exciting to be making pace with this work."
Graeme Doshi-Smith, Chairman of the City Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee.
We are identifying more sites for new carbon removal projects on City Corporation owned land.
The City Corporation protects 11,000 acres of green space in London and south-east England – including Epping Forest and Burnham Beeches and over 200 smaller ones in the Square Mile, investing more than £40m a year. These sites, most of which are charitable trusts, are run at little or no cost to the communities that they serve. They include important wildlife habitats, Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and National Nature Reserves and are protected from being built on by special legislation. These sites already remove around 16,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere a year, equivalent to 44% of the organisation’s annual carbon footprint.