White storks are to be reintroduced in Barking and Dagenham, after being absent from England for around 600 years, as part of the rewilding East London Project.
The breeding colony will be located in Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham from October, and is the first of its kind in London.
Beavers will also be brought back to the park as part of the scheme in March 2027, after already being reintroduced to a nature reserve in Greenford, Ealing in 2023.
Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: “After more than six centuries, this project brings an iconic species back to our landscapes.”
The plan will be delivered by the London Wildlife Trust and Barking and Dagenham Council, and will be funded by £500,000 from the Mayor’s Green Roots fund.
Anneke Greenman, an ecologist, tells the North East Londoner that white storks play a key role in habitat connectivity and controlling the numbers of other species.
The ecologist also added that habitat connectivity in London is the most important aspect of conservation.
She said: “The use of more dark corridors for the safe and connected foraging of bats and residents using things like hedgehog tunnels to help on a smaller scale.”
Greenman explained beavers are what’s known as a keystone species, meaning they have a huge impact on their environment.
Beaver dams create habitats for other species such as slow moving water for fish to breed and areas of wetland for storks to feed.
Greenman said that wet woodland is increasingly rare in the UK without beavers present.
The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, said: “Access to nature is an issue of social justice and it can’t just be those who live in the countryside who get to share their home with our amazing wild creatures.”
Feature Image Credit: Anastasiya Dragun via Unsplash.
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