The Big City Bug Hunt toolkit

This toolkit celebrates London’s urban food-growing spaces and the important role they play in supporting wildlife. These spaces don’t just grow food- they also provide homes for birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, bees and many other species. By taking part in Capital Growth’s Big City Bug Hunt you can become a citizen scientist, discover the wildlife in your growing space and help nature thrive.

In partnership with Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL) and iNaturalist, The Big City Bug Hunt invites growers, volunteers and community groups to record insects and other wildlife. Your observations will help show the value of urban growing spaces and contribute to mapping biodiversity across London.

This toolkit offers simple activities, guides and resources to help you spot, record and support wildlife, and be part of a growing movement to protect nature in our city.

The toolkit includes:

• Guidance on how to get involved in The Big City Bug Hunt
• Step-by-step activity guides for bug hunts and pond-dipping
• Practical actions to help nature thrive in your garden
• Species fact files, including butterflies, moths, hoverflies, bees and wasps
• Identification tools to distinguish between similar species
• Guidance on creating high-quality biological records