How to support biodiversity at your allotment
06/23/2025
Allotments are precious community assets, helping to bring people together and providing numerous benefits in terms of physical health and mental wellbeing. But they can also play an important role in supporting biodiversity. In this article, we’ll explore some of the ways you can make your allotment more biodiverse, and explain how to manage and mitigate some of the risks you might encounter along the way.
Biodiversity benefits of allotments
Allotments offer numerous environmental and biodiversity benefits. According to the National Allotment Society (NAS), the quality of soil on allotments “creates a unique environment from which all life can emerge”. Studies have shown that allotments can help support high levels of plant and animal diversity, as well as creating habitats for pollinators. One study focusing on council-owned allotments found they can attract up to 50 times as many bees as other types of council-owned land. On top of this, allotments offer wider environmental benefits, for example by providing precious space for urban food growing, which can reduce ‘food miles’ - the distance between food being grown and consumed.
How can allotment associations enhance biodiversity?
There are plenty of ways to support and enhance biodiversity in and around your allotment site.
Water features
Introducing ponds or other water features, such as troughs, tanks (or even smaller features like ponds-in-a-pot or bird baths) can provide habitats for a range of animal and plant life, from frogs and newts, to birds, bees and butterflies. See our article on Implementing water features in allotments for more ideas.
Hedgerows
Planting native hedges can provide food, shelter and nesting space for birds, insects and small mammals - not to mention offering a host of other benefits, such as providing privacy for your allotment users and shielding them from neighbouring noise.
Hedgelink has produced a useful guide to some of the best types of hedges for gardens and allotments.
Cutting down on chemicals
Garden chemicals can be harmful to many animal species, whether it’s bees or butterflies being harmed by spray from pesticides, or larger animals chewing on grass treated with synthetic fertiliser. Award-winning gardener and NAS ambassador Zoe Clayton says using pesticides in your allotment can undermine other well-meaning efforts to support biodiversity. “If you only do one thing for wildlife, I would encourage you to give up the bottle,” she says.
Chemicals can also pose a risk to people if they are not stored, applied, and disposed of correctly.
Other ideas to support biodiversity
The above suggestions are just a few ideas for supporting biodiversity in your allotment. Other ideas could include:
- Installing bird feeders and nesting boxes
- Building a bug hotel
- Maximising potential growing areas – for example, with ‘green roofs’ on top of sheds. See the RHS’s guide to green roofs
- Creating designated areas to be allowed to grow wild (e.g. using wooden frames, log walls etc.)
What are the risk and insurance considerations?
These will vary greatly from allotment to allotment, and some of the suggestions above will present very little risk, but there are some scenarios you might need to plan for.
One is the potential danger of drowning (or trip and slip hazards) related to ponds or other water features. Ensure appropriate steps are taken to minimise the dangers to children and vulnerable adults – e.g. through signage, lighting and barriers/fencing.
It’s also important to consider the potential hazards that, in rare circumstances, might result from planting hedgerows, particularly if they are allowed to become overgrown. Hedges can become nesting grounds for rodents, and this could potentially lead to rodent infestations in surrounding property. If an infestation can be directly linked back to vegetation you own or are responsible for managing, you could potentially be held liable for any property damage.
Overgrown hedges could also present a risk of physical injury – for example, from trip and slips if pathways become obstructed, or if pathway surfaces are damaged by overgrowing hedge roots.
In very rare circumstances, vigorous hedge growth may even increase the risk of property-related claims linked to subsidence. The RHS points out that tall hedges can contribute to soil drying, and advises owners “to maintain hedges in a subsidence-prone area to a height equivalent to the distance of the hedge to the building.”
If taking any measures to restrict hedge growth, it’s important to consider the impact on wildlife – for example, any hedge cutting should avoid bird nesting periods between March and August.
The best way to reduce risks related to hedges is to plant species that are appropriate for your location – e.g. hedges that won’t grow to a height that could impact on neighbours’ amenity (e.g. by restricting light) or present structural problems. The RHS has some useful practical guidance on managing hedgerows and understanding the legal implications.
How Zurich Municipal can help
To find out more about some of the services we offer to help our customers better manage their risks, visit our Zurich Resilience Solutions page.
Or, if you’ve got any questions about the content of this article, get in touch.
- Give us a call on: 0121 697 9131
- Emails us: zrs.enquiries@uk.zurich.com
