Donate to Barnes Common Limited’s fundraiser and double your impact

From midday on 22 April to midday on 29 April, local nature conservation and education charity Barnes Common Limited is taking part in The Big Give’s Green Match Fund, aiming to raise £8,000 to restore the rare acid grassland in Barnes.

Barnes Common is home to some of the richest examples of lowland acid grassland in London, providing a home to rare insects and plants. The funds the charity plans to raise will go towards restoring this fragile habitat.

Any donations made via BigGive.org from midday on 22 April to midday on 29 April will be matched by a donor. If the charity raises £8,000, it will be doubled to £16,000.

“Please take advantage of this exciting opportunity and schedule your donations for our match funding week, 22 to 29 April!” says Jackie Marie, Business Operations Manager of Barnes Common Limited, “Remember: one donation, twice the impact.”

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Lowland acid grassland is a UK threatened habitat of national conservation importance. “Recent research has identified 57 invertebrate species linked to LAG and sandy soil habitats,” says Conservation Manager Will Dartnell, “with 15 species being of conservation concern, such as the nationally rare bryony mining bee (Andrea florea) and the ridge-saddled carpenter bee (Heriades truncorum). Several of the yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus) hills found on Mill Hill are thought to be 150-200 years old!” 

However, historically, across the common much of this habitat has been lost through urban development and succession to scrub and woodland. Acid grassland is a fragile ecosystem and too much human disturbance can destroy it altogether, as can increases in nitrates from pollution and nutrients from dog fouling.