North Thames: Paradise Fields Park - rewilding project visit

Join the North Thames committee and Citizen Zoo to discover their passion for rewilding and restoring nature firsthand. Explore their exciting initiatives, like reintroducing beavers and revitalising ecosystems. 

Horsenden Hill is made of three main areas, Paradise Fields features on the southern side of the canal comprising scrapes, reed beds and lagoons offering a peaceful haven for wildlife and visitors alike.

On the Day

• 10:00am: Arrival
• 10:15am: A guided tour around the area hosted by one of the Conservationists from Citizen Zoo giving insight into the recent beaver rewilding project
• 1:30pm: Lunch at The Railway Pub nearby or picnic weather dependant
• 2:30pm: Finish

About Paradise Fields 

Meet Citizen Zoo: a dedicated team of conservationists, united by their passion for rewilding. What began as a tight-knit circle of friends sharing a vision for a wilder tomorrow has blossomed into a force for change throughout the UK. With collaborative efforts from partners and clients, they are restoring nature to its former glory. Their ethos? Action-driven, backed by cutting-edge research, yielding tangible results. From translocations to captive breeding, they're spearheading a holistic approach to habitat restoration. Join them in rebuilding a more vibrant, balanced ecosystem.

Following the start of a beaver re-wilding project, a family of five Eurasian beavers have been released into the park. Beavers are nature's most experienced water engineers and are often busy managing river systems, and have been busy working away on natural waterways for far longer than humans have.

Beaver wetlands can slow the flow of water through a catchment, reducing the risk of flooding to communities downstream, acting as a vital resource during periods of drought, as firebreaks in extreme heat and wildfires, and even have the potential to help us restore floodplains, reconnecting these increasingly important systems

The absence of beavers has thrown things out of balance, A phenomenal volunteer effort has helped prepare the site for the arrival of these ecosystem engineers, with community members fully trained to monitor beaver welfare. The project is a collaboration between Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo, Friends of Horsenden Hill and Ealing Council, with support from Beaver Trust, and funding from the Mayor of London and Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust and Groundwork London, under the Rewild London Fund who have joined forces to support natural flood management.

Please note:

• All funds raised will go to Citizen Zoo
• Lunch is to be paid for on the day
• There are local train stations and carparks nearby for easy access to the fields

If you would like to learn more about the ongoing project visit Friends of Horsenden.