Cambridge Nature Network Projects

Supporting Nature’s recovery in and around Cambridge

The Cambridge Nature Network projects range in scope and scale from large-scale farmland conversion to small community projects.

The range of organisations and people involved includes local charities, local authorities, community groups, landowners and farmers, universities and colleges, schools, contractors and individual people helping to plant trees and sow seeds. Collectively, these projects and the efforts of those involved will make a difference over time.

For information about individual projects, please contact the delivery organisation listed on each project page. To add your project, please contact nature@cambridgeppf.org.

  • 37. Rivers of Film Festival

    The 2025 festival comprised of events, celebrating rivers and other water bodies with short and long-form films, talks, walks, workshops and more. Novel partnerships and places, art and documentaries to inspire care, curiosity and action.  The Rivers of Film festival was commissioned to James Murray-White with support… Read more

  • 36. River Beings Mural

    Large-Scale Community Art with young people Community artist Hilary Cox Condron teamed up with street artist and therapist Tim Shakur-Yates to create a stunning mural on the Chisholm Trail bridge over the River Cam. This new large-scale artwork now adorns both sides of the bridge… Read more

  • 35. Volunteering and Community Cafés in Abbey

    Grassroots Sustainability actions Abbey People’s community cafes are vibrant and fun sessions designed to foster sustainability, connection, and practical resilience in the Abbey ward. Going beyond a traditional gathering space, these regular events integrate a dynamic mix of eco-friendly workshops and social initiatives, and they… Read more

  • 34. SuDS in Cambridge Schools

    Flowers not floods in Seven Local Schools   Water Sensitive Cambridge’s SuDS in Cambridgeshire Schools project transforms hard, impermeable school grounds into climate-resilient, nature-friendly learning environments. Designed to tackle the persistent nuisance of standing water, the initiative installs sustainable drainage systems – such as rain gardens,… Read more

  • 33. Nature and Us

    A Walk in Wandlebury Country Park with the Khidmat Sisters   A visit to Wandlebury Country Park by 18 women from the Khidmat Sisters group in July 2025. Born from a collaboration between Cambridge Past, Present and Future and Ayesha Ulhaq of the Cambridge Interfaith Programme,… Read more

  • 32. Coldham’s Brook Improvements

    Restoring the Coldham’s Brook, a chalk stream in the Abbey Ward  The Coldham’s Brook Improvements project focuses on the conservation and active restoration of one of Cambridge’s rare urban chalk streams, which are often described as England’s rainforests. Flowing from Cherry Hinton through the eastern suburbs, through Coldham’s and Stourbridge Commons to the River Cam, this fragile… Read more

  • 31. DiversiTree

    Protecting and enhancing the veteran trees along the River Cam   The DiversiTree project, led by Cambridge City Council, focuses on supporting the city’s urban forest through community action and collective stewardship. Centred along a 10-kilometre stretch of the River Cam from Baits Bite Lock to Grantchester Meadows, the DiversiTree project safeguards… Read more

  • 30. CoFarm Cambridge

    A ‘CoFarming’ Pilot in Abbey, Cambridge   CoFarm Cambridge was an innovative community farm pilot by the CoFarm Foundation, designed to transform urban green space into a productive, nature-friendly market garden. Over the course of the project, the initiative engaged hundreds of local volunteers in the Abbey ward of… Read more

  • 29. Peatland Restoration at Wicken Fen

    Wicken Fen’s peatland restoration and Living Lowlands work are large-scale, landscape-level efforts to rewet and recover lowland peat habitats at this iconic nature reserve—protecting carbon stores, boosting biodiversity, and developing nature-based solutions for water and farming that can be scaled more widely across England.  At Wicken Fen National… Read more

  • 28. Barnwell Verge: Seeds of Hope

    A vibrant, biodiverse green corridor on Barnwell Road  The Barnwell Verge: Seeds of Hope project, led by the community charity Abbey People, transformed a neglected urban space in the Abbey Ward in Cambridge into a vibrant biodiverse green corridor. Sparked by the vision of a local young resident tired of seeing muddy, vehicle-damaged grass degrading public space and damaging tree roots, the… Read more

  • 27. Milton Wetland Enhancement Project 

    This project aims to restore a mosaic of wetland habitats that are poorly represented at Milton Country Park, enhancing the site for wildlife and the public. Improvements to infrastructure will offer the public the opportunity to enjoy a new wild space. In common with many… Read more

  • 26. Fleam Dyke Restoration

    Restoration of Fleam Dyke SSSI and Scheduled Ancient Monument and Creation of a Species-rich Chalk Grassland Biodiversity Offsetting Site  Fleam Dyke Nature Reserve is an SSSI and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The Dyke will be gradually restored to chalk grassland with scattered scrub. There is significant work required to remove the scrub, so this will be a long-term venture over 20 years. The Dyke will be re-fenced and… Read more