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Alongside news that there are plans to create a massive temporary artificial hill at Marble Arch so people can enjoy summer views of some busy central London road junctions comes a slightly more ecologically viable and sustainable project from south London’s ace Horniman Museum. The Forest Hill institution wants to plant a brand new ‘micro forest’ to create a barrier between its delightful gardens and the rather less delightful four-lane A205 South Circular road, which runs immediately past the front of the museum.
The Horniman is seeking £10,000 in donations to start its new tree-planting scheme. The plans will see densely packed silver birch trees forming the backbone of a new area of variegated woodland, with shrubs and other plants at ground level. The grass will be allowed to return to meadow length. This new environment will encourage biodiversity, remove CO2 from the atmosphere and provide a visual and aural breakwater between the tranquillity of the gardens and London Road.
The museum already boasts substantial green credentials. Back in 1996, it opened its Centre for Understanding the Environment, built using sustainable materials and with an early example (for London) of a turf roof. Its gardens have long offered a great green space for south Londoners, with stunning views towards the north of the capital. If this scheme comes to fruition, it should ensure they continue, cleaner and greener, into the future. Support this all-new forest hill!
Support the Horniman’s London Road tree-planting scheme here.