Learnings from the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path Event!

On the 8th of December, we welcomed many members of the community to the Charterhouse for our first-ever Clerkenwell Pollinator Path Results and Next Steps event! It was an exciting night, filled with delicious food (courtesy of the Charterhouse https://thecharterhouse.org/ ) and fascinating talks from Konstantinos & Heather from Pollinating London Together, Michael from London National Park City (the Hackney Buzzline), Ronan & Clara from Queen Mary University, and Sarah Lo on Moth Trapping. It was fantastic to see a lot of enthusiasm from everyone there. To those who missed out on the event, you can find a recording on our Instagram @stjohnsgarden.ec1!

Pollinators are a vital part of our ecosystems; it is estimated that 1 in 3 bites of food depend on pollinators. Urban green spaces are very important for pollinators, due to their ecological diversity and variety of food sources. Therefore, it is extremely important that we work towards increasing pollinators in Clerkenwell!

We got the results from the 2025 Pollinator Surveys, with the data being from 15 assessed green spaces in Clerkenwell, including our very own St. John’s Garden. Some notable findings were that a total of 38 different species of pollinators were found across the green spaces and that of the plants assessed; the Geranium spp. was the most popular among pollinators, having 212 visits during the assessment period.

Some key messages from the night were:

We can enhance pollinator diversity in Clerkenwell by:

1) Increasing pollinator-friendly planting:

- Abundance and diversity.

- Considering drought-resistant plants if there is no irrigation.

- Planting for butterflies and moth life stages.

2) Increasing nesting resources:

- Bee Hotels – Cavity nesting bees.

- Bee mounts of bare soil – ground-nesters.

- Rotten wood – Bees, wasps, hoverflies and beetles.

Overall, it was a fantastic and insightful evening, bringing together the community to help benefit the ecosystems in our local area. 

For those who want to find out more about the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path and what we’re up to in 2026, you can sign up for the newsletter here.

Observations and images by Francesca Woodhouse