Clerkenwell Pollinator Path
We’re a group of local people and organisations who live and work in Clerkenwell, love the area, and are passionate about boosting biodiversity in the neighbourhood. Working together, learning together and sharing skills and knowledge as we go, the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path is supporting people to use balconies, tree-pits, playgrounds, doorsteps, office rooftops, private gardens and public parks to create and connect effective, attractive pollinator pantries and habitats.
Download Your Copy of the Clerkenwell Pollinator Toolkit.
Set against a backdrop of global biodiversity loss, in one of the most nature-deprived areas of London, the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path dares to imagine a neighbourhood known for urban nature restoration, with blooming pollinator gardens large and small bringing beauty to our streets and connecting people to nature and each other. Most important of all? This is a path, and we want to enjoy the journey!
Get involved!
Calling all Clerkenwell residents, businesses, schools and community groups who’d like to get involved in creating and caring for pollinator-friendly patches! Whether you’re planting a small window box, transforming a terrace, taking over a tree pit or enhancing larger green spaces…
Follow Us on Instagram
@clerkenwellpollinatorpath FOR DETAILS OF UPCOMING EVENTS, WORKSHOPS, HABITAT INSTALLATIONS & MONITORING SESSIONS, OR YOU CAN EMAIL US AT stjohnsgarden.ec1@gmail.com
What’s Next for 2026
Get more Nectar-rich Plants & Habitats into Green Spaces
In 2026, we’ll action ecologists’ recommendations by planting more nectar-rich flowers throughout the year and creating additional nesting habitats for ground-nesting and cavity-nesting solitary bees. We’ll also be installing other appropriate elements from the Blueprint Garden, including hoverfly habitats, caterpillar corners, woodpiles, puddling stations and signs that explain what’s going on. We’re taking an agile, “Test and Learn” approach, as we see what does and doesn’t work and course-correct as needed through the season.
Collect Data & Measure Impact
We’re working with Pollinating London Together to re-survey the 15 sites monitored in 2025, measure the impact of our interventions, and build a robust dataset of pollinator activity and flower preferences in Clerkenwell. We’re also working with students and entomologists from Queen Mary University of London to measure the effectiveness of habitats.
Host Community Happenings
We’re hosting a programme of pollinator events large and small open to everyone across the neighbourhood - including children from local primary schools and student volunteers from LSE and City St George’s. We’ll learn how to sow and grow our own herbs, create a pollinator paradise in a single pot, take cuttings & collect seeds, even plant up pollinator tree pits on the street. If you’d like to find out more, follow or message us on Instagram @clerkenwellpollinatorpath or email us at stjohnsgarden.ec1@gmail.com.
Raise Awareness, Grow Involvement & Share Learnings
We’ll also be raising awareness of pollinator decline and seeding ideas for how each of us can help by creating and sharing a Pollinator Toolkit - YOU’RE READING IT RIGHT NOW SO SOMETHING SOMEWHERE IS WORKING! Our aim this year is to submit a big bunch of entries to Islington In Bloom, celebrating pollinator gardens of all shapes and sizes across the neighbourhood and showing what’s possible when communities come together in support of Nature.
In 2025 - working closely with the ecological charity,Pollinating London Together, Islington Parks Service, The Charterhouse and 15 publicly accessible green spaces across Clerkenwell - this community-led project is delivered:
Pollinator ecologist conducted 4 pollinator surveys across 15 green spaces in the Clerkenwell ward from Spring through Autumn
Individual reports on each of the sites, using the Pollinating London Together evaluation framework, which assesses pollinator activity in the space. Suggesting tailored recommendations for how to make the site more pollinator-friendly. You can find the St John’s Garden Report here.
Results & Recommendations Report from Pollinating London Together - Download through the link.
A "Clerkenwell Pollinator Toolkit" DOWNLOAD HERE - combining insights from across the surveys to suggest how green spaces and the community - large and small - in Clerkenwell can support pollinators, empowering everyone who cares for a local green space, back garden or window box to implement effective changes, improve the abundance and biodiversity of pollinator species and strengthen the resilience of nature in EC1.
A deeper dive into the recommendations we’ve put together for planting with our target pollinators in mind - Planting and Habitats for Target Ten Species in 2026
A plan for funding and implementing recommendations in 2026 - see the Pollinator Toolkit for more.
