In 2025, the National Lottery Heritage Fund funded the Lesnes 500 project to recreate and commemorate the book, ‘British Woodlands as illustrated by Lessness Abbey Wood’ for its 100th anniversary, celebrating the wildlife of Lesnes Abbey Woods in Bexley. As a part of the Lesnes 500 project, Lesnes Abbey Woods site manager, Ian Holt, has collaborated with GiGL to create a recording form unique to the site. Together, we want to encourage any visitors, frequent or new, to join us in our shared mission to record wildlife in London and contribute to environmental restoration in the capital.
One of the aims of the Lesnes 500 project is to help conserve and celebrate the diverse site, part of which makes up one of London’s protected ancient woodlands and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Lesnes hosts a range of other habitats that are rare in London including heathland, acid grassland and several impressive ponds. If you’re yet to visit, now is as good a time as any and you have your reason – recently spotted species include green woodpeckers, heather, Jersey tiger moths, acorn weevils, and hairy garlic!
Become a community scientist or add to your repertoire of records and collect some data to add to the form. Regardless of your experience, grab your species identification guide or your preferred app and start recording. The records you collect and share with us will expand the evidence base, demonstrating the ecological and social importance of Lesnes. Your contributions could even feature in the upcoming book!
Become Lesnes Abbey savvy and build on your knowledge of the site and its inhabitants. Check out this GiGLer article for some recording tips, and if you have records you would like to submit from other sites, here is our generic recording form. Don’t forget to check out the Lesnes Abbey Woods website for a host of information about the site and the variety of projects you can get involved in!
