About this survey

Croydon Council and Citizen Zoo are planning to repair and open the South Norwood Country Park Visitor Centre and are exploring the possibility of introducing beavers to the park. This short survey will help us understand how residents and park users feel about this potential rewilding measure, identify any opportunities or concerns, and ensure the projects work well for both people and nature.

Who are Citizen Zoo

Citizen Zoo is an urban rewilding organisation that empowers communities to unlock the biodiversity potential of local spaces and reconnect with the nature on their doorstep. We’re keen to collaborate with Croydon Council at South Norwood Country Park, a beautiful site already rich in wildlife and full of potential, to explore how we can further enhance its biodiversity and deepen community connection to it. As part of this, we’d like to assess the feasibility of introducing rewilding principles, drawing on lessons from our other projects involving the reintroduction of species such as beavers and other lost species from the landscape. 

See our website here.

Why Beavers?

Beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers” that help create wetlands, reduce flooding, capture carbon from the atmosphere and support biodiversity. We have demonstrated the incredible impact of beavers at our Ealing Beaver Project site, where a family of 5 beavers were released and have increased biodiversity, as well as preventing flooding downstream and led to a 90% reduction in anti-social behaviour on site. You may have even seen the project featured in David Attenborough’s recent Wild London documentary, which aired on BBC One on New Year’s Day.