Ham Lands is a 72-hectare (180-acre) Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
A canal was constructed through the towpath in the 1920s to create an internal loading lagoon, now the Thames Young Mariners.
The gravel pits were then backfilled with soil from different areas of London, creating a variety of habitats which attract many bird and butterfly species.
[3] The construction of Teddington Lock in 1904, now the limit of the tidal Thames, resulted in the raising of the towpath while the in-filled area was above the general level of flooding.
A survey of the flora was carried out by Nigel Hepper in 1985 and a report published in 1987 which recognised eight zones.