Growing for Nature: The Big City Bug Hunt

The Big City Bug Hunt was a collaboration with Greenspace Information for Greater London (GIGL), designed to engage London's growing communities to monitor biodiversity. We used iNaturalist as our data collection platform and over the course of a year recorded 436 different species of insect, with community gardens across London. Grower's ran bug hunts and through practical activities, training and wildlife recording, the project supported growers to identify the species living alongside their crops and contribute their observations to London’s biodiversity data. We aimed to:

• Demonstrate the biodiversity value of food growing sites through building evidence
• Increase nature literacy and engagement among growers, supporting them to identify, observe and record wildlife

Across 95 participating sites in our iNaturalist project, community gardens, farms and allotments recorded 1,775 species of wild plants, animals and fungi, making the ecological value of these spaces more visible to growers, decision-makers and the wider environmental sector.

“Food growing can get a bad reputation among people involved in rewilding or gardening. However, particularly in urban places where we don’t have enough space for full rewilding, growing food through agroecology in a way that makes space for nature is incredibly valuable." Sofia Paredes, Black Rootz Grower

The reality of most food growing projects in London is that they are mostly volunteer led, with busy schedules, especially during the all-consuming summer growing season. Despite a lot of interest and enthusiasm in ecology, there’s not always capacity to dive deeper. To address this we offered bespoke, free workshops led by our five Critter Consultants as well as easy-to-follow bug hunting and pond dipping activity guides.

For a deep dive on our resources and methodology, read our report. 

Which insects were spotted in London’s community growing sites?

If you ask most growers, they’ll be able to tell you how their growing areas are teeming with life. This project has successfully mapped and detailed the diverse insect communities thriving among our crops. Capturing historical records (from 2010) up to the project's conclusion on 01.10.2026, the survey provides a comprehensive snapshot of local biodiversity through community science:

• 9,512 total observations made
• 1,775 distinct species spotted
• 1,461 active identifiers contributing expertise
• 625 community observers involved

Within the bounds of the project, July 2025 to October 2026:

• 3,798 total observations
• 436 species of insect
• 1,017 species
• 746 identifiers
• 333 observers

The most commonly sighted species have been ladybirds (coccinellidae), southern green shield bugs (Nezara viridula), common carder bees (Bombus pascuorum), and buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).

 As well as some of London's protected species, including two of the three amphibians on the protected list: European Common Frog (Rana temporaria) and European Toad (Bufo bufo).

In addition, two protected Lepidoptera have been recorded: Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) and Figure of Eight moth (Diloba caeruleocephala) - further evidence of the conservation value of community food growing spaces that are offering important sanctuary for struggling species.

Across our 95 sites, 817 species of insects were recorded. By comparison, iNaturalist users have reported 4,804 insects across the wider Greater London area, meaning that 17% of London's recorded insect species find their homes within our city farms, allotments, and community gardens. Whilst with all citizen science projects, this does not with certainty reflect the true amount, as not all species will be recorded and recording is inconsistent across areas, its a start understanding the important role community growing sites offer to urban biodiversity.

Below is a breakdown of the specific insect groups recorded:

Insect group	Greater London	Big City Bug Hunt	% of London population in Capital Growth Sites	Top Most Common Species
Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	1,313	238	18%	Small White (70) Mint moth (61) Red Admiral (52)
Hymenoptera (inc Bees & Wasps)	724	120	17%	Western Honey Bee (102) Common Carder Bumble Bee (95) Buff tailed Bumble Bee (87)
Diptera (Flies)	821	179	22%	Yellow haired Sun Fly (78) Marmalade Hover Fly (46) Hornet Mimic Hover Fly (32)

 

Who spotted the bugs? Analysis of engagement and participation.

Gardens were recruited to the Big City Bug Hunt through a combination of direct outreach, the Capital Growth newsletter and social media. With representation from some of London’s biggest and smallest growing sites, spanning 23 of London’s 32 boroughs.

Overall participation figures were as follows:

• 95 gardens registered for the Big City Bug Hunt.
• 82 gardens actively participated in biodiversity monitoring.
• 992 estimated participants engaged with the Big City Bug Hunt overall.
• 21 Critter Consultant workshops were delivered.
• 205 attendees took part in Critter Consultant sessions.

Across the gardens, there was varying engagement, with the 10 highest recorders on the iNaturalist dashboard as follows:

1. Battersea Social Therapeutic Gardens
2. Cody Dock Food Growing Area
3. OmVed Gardens
4. Palace Road Nature Garden
5. Rangers Forest School
6. Agnes Riley Gardens
7. Castlehaven Community Garden
8. Glengall Wharf Community Garden
9. Streatham Common Community Garden
10. Higham Hill Common Allotments

Again, this leaderboard is reflective of the amount of biodiversity monitored, not necessarily the actual presence of biodiversity.

Resources

For Big City Bug Hunt to work, biodiversity monitoring therefore needed to be simple, accessible and easy to fit around existing growing activities.

It was equally important that we did not just introduce a monitoring task in isolation. To make participation enjoyable, educational and also achievable, we provided growers with a comprehensive package of support that removed technical barriers and built confidence..

We developed a suite of resources and learning opportunities, in collaboration with Susannah Hall (Permablitz London) including:

• Welcome packs containing toolkits and field study guides
• The Big City Bug Hunt Toolkit, available digitally and in print
• Pond dipping activity guide
• Bug Hunt activity guide
• How to ID Insects webinar
• How to Monitor Insects webinar
• iNaturalist workshops (in-person)
• Moth-trapping workshops (in-person)
• One to one support via email and phone with the team.

 

Want to learn more about citizen science monitoring and London's insects?

Check out more resources here.

Read the full Big City Bug Hunt report here.