Biodiversity in the Garden

A sanctuary for wildlife in the heart of the City.

Located in the legal quarter in the City of London, the three -acre Inner Temple Garden offers a rich and dynamic refuge for nature and wildlife.

Since 2023, the Garden has been working with Pollinating London Together to monitor and develop the Garden into a haven for pollinators and wildlife, as well as a vital link in London’s wider green network.

PLT have been raising awareness of negative impact of the well-intentioned introduction of too many bee hives in the City which then out compete with other pollinators. There are over 270 different species of bee in the UK, with the honey bee being just one, in addition to other types of pollinators which include moths, butterflies, wasps and flies. 

The Garden is now embarking on a full biodiversity audit led by ecologist Andy Phillips to deepen our understanding of the garden’s ecological role. The audit’s findings will help shape our long-term management strategy, inform the planting, and design choices, and reinforce our commitment to nurturing biodiversity in this urban setting.

The aim is to demonstrate that significant biodiversity gains are possible within a listed, historic garden with an active events programme. In addition to exploring how our works can link to that of others across the City for collective benefits.  

Across the UK, insect pollinators have declined by around one-third since 1980. In large cities like London, habitat fragmentation, pollution, and the loss of green spaces all play a part. Recent surveys have shown that insect populations in urban areas have fallen by over 60% in the last 20 years with pollinators being especially at risk. The UK has over 1,500 species of insect pollinators, including wild bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and hoverflies. These insects play an essential role in sustaining ecosystems and supporting diversity.

The Inner Temple Garden is home to a wide range of insect pollinators which include solitary bees, butterflies, and moths. Our long-flowering borders, flowering trees and wildflower meadows provide essential nectar and pollen throughout the year. The Inner Temple Garden team is continuously working to improve conditions for pollinators by focusing on cultivating pollinator friendly planting and enhancing pollinator habitats across the garden.

The Inner Temple Garden contains a mosaic of habitats  which include wildflower meadows seeded using meadow clippings from Great Dixter in Sussex; densely planted mixed- herbaceous borders; flowering shrubs;  veteran trees; and open sunny lawns. In additional to structural features like old walls, retaining standing monolith (dead-decaying) trees; haystacks;  and deadwood piles where beetles, woodlice, and solitary bees can nest and feed.

These elements work together to provide essential shelter, food, and breeding space for a wide range of species. Recent findings have revealed how important the bare ground, exposed root plates, and sunlit walls are for nesting bees. 

One of the most striking early spring visitors is the hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes), a large solitary bee easily mistaken for a bumblebee. The males have pale brown coats and yellow faces, whereas the females have black bodies and reddish hind-leg hairs, both are commonly seen foraging in our meadows and borders favouring plants like Pulmonaria officinalis, Primula veris, and Primula vulgaris. These nest in in south-facing walls with crumbling mortar. Our garden’s older walls and sunny aspects offer ideal conditions.

Another key resident is the ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria), a ground-nesting species with striking black and white banding. Ground-nesting habitat is rare in urban London, making Inner Temple Garden an important refuge. Recently, a male lek (a congregation of males seeking mates) was recorded near a Viburnum plicatum by the mulberry tree.

Nomada lathburiana, a red-and-black parasitic bee that lays its eggs in the nests of A. cineraria was also spotted at the Inner Temple Garden. These ‘cuckoo bees’ play an important ecological role in regulating populations and increasing genetic diversity.

An under-appreciated group of pollinators are moths for which we regularly place out a moth trap to record any findings and to understand their presence in the garden. Moths are often viewed as the poor relative of the butterfly, though a recent study by the University of Sussex has found that moths as night pollinators are more efficient than day flying pollinators - bees. There are just 57 resident butterflies’ species in the UK compared to 2,500 moth species. A food source for bird and bat species in the Garden, moths can be a general indicator species of the overall health of an ecosystem.

Also overlooked, flies play vital ecological roles as pollinators, decomposers, and also a food source for birds, bats, and other wildlife. Hoverflies (Volucella zonaria), in particular, are important pollinators of wildflowers, while other species help break down dead organic matter, recycling nutrients into the soil. Likewise their presence is a sign of a healthy, functioning ecosystem.

In 2024, the PLT report for the Inner Temple Garden recorded a wide diversity of flower-visiting insects, with 25 distinct species or species groups observed. The most abundant was the honeybee (Apis mellifera), which possibly reflect the over population of bee hives in the City, followed by bumblebee species such as Bombus lucorum agg. and Bombus pascuorum. Hoverflies, wasps, and solitary bees were also well represented, reflecting the richness of floral resources available. In total, insect visitors were observed on flowers from over 40 different plant genera.

The recorded plant genera visited by pollinators include both native and non-native species, reflecting a wide range of plant types supporting pollinator activity. Among the most represented genera at Inner Temple Garden are Anthriscus, Euphorbia, Primula, Valeriana, Ferula, Leucanthemum, Rudbeckia, Verbena, Scabiosa, Eupatorium, Echium, and Campanula, among others.

The plant diversity appears well-distributed, with no single genus dominating the site, suggesting a balanced and ecologically supportive planting strategy that offers various floral resources across the season for different types of pollinators.

In July 2024, the Inner Temple Garden was included in a biodiversity study conducted by researchers from Imperial College London, in collaboration with the City of London Corporation and the Friends of City Gardens. The study surveyed 21 sites across the City of London, including eight gardens, three conventional roofs, and ten green roofs. Using bioacoustic monitoring and AI-based identification, the survey assessed bird and bat activity over a one-week period.

At the Inner Temple Garden, 21 bird species were recorded, with the Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) being the largest numbers recorded in the Garden. Bat activity was notably high, with a total of 3,101 bat passes detected. Of these, 87% were identified as common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and 13% as soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus). Overall, the results indicated that gardens, including Inner Temple, supported higher levels of bird and bat activity compared to conventional and extensive green roofs in the surrounding areas. This research continues with monitoring equipment in place in 2025 for twelve months.