An amazing year of work for wildlife in Tower Hamlets
The Council and Tower Habitats, the Tower Hamlets biodiversity partnership, have published the second annual progress report on the Local Biodiversity Action Plan. The report covers the year from October 2015 to September 2016 and can be downloaded here.
This shows just how much fantastic work to enhance wildlife habitats has been done in our parks, gardens, water spaces and the built environment. Our numerous partner organisations, including housing associations, charities, community groups and the Council, have completed loads of great projects to create and enhance priority habitats, and provide better habitats for priority species. The report will tell you all about these, but a few of the highlights include:
- 235 metres of new reed bed and other native vegetation created on the Limehouse Cut and Lea Navigation by Thames21;
- over 1000 square metres of new native woodland planted in Allen Gardens by the Green Team;
- 115 metres of new mixed native hedge planted by Tower Hamlets Homes and Tower Hamlets Community Housing at Matilda House and Winterton House Pocket Park;
- new orchards planted by the Mudchute Association at Mudchute and the Council’s Parks section at Mile End Children’s Park;
- a nesting bank for Kingfishers installed by the Regent’s Canal in Limehouse by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and Grounded Ecotherapy, funded by the Council’s Sustainable Development Team;
- over a hectare of woodland and 1000 square metres of grassland in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park enhanced by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park;
- six new ponds installed in Bethnal Green Nature Reserve by Nomad and the Teesdale & Hollybush TRA;
- 21 new annual wildflower patches created by Tower Hamlets Homes (see photo above) and over 150,000 bulbs planted by Tower Hamlets Homes, Poplar Harca and EastendHomes, to provide nectar for bees and other pollinators on housing estates.
Header photo: annual wildflower meadow at Commercial Road (Veronica Suwara)