Linking it up
One of the biggest challenges when trying
to avoid, or compensate for, the loss of
species and habitats – especially when
dealing with a large-scale project – is
connectivity. A new or translocated habitat
will be ineffective and unsustainable if the
animal or plant species are isolated.
“Wildlife in a large city like London
tends to exist in fragmented pockets,
over a large area,” says Olliver. “When
you create or move habitats, you have
to ensure that the ecological connectivity
is maintained or even enhanced.”
In the Lower Lea Valley, for example,
the waterways that criss-cross the Olympic
Park are important conduits for a variety
of species, including Kingfishers.
The Atkins team has taken a transitional
approach to work on the site in order that
such networks are affected as little as 19
possible. In the long term, conservation
areas created on the London 2012 site
will form part of the future landscape
of the Olympic Park and will be
linked to the wider countryside
through natural corridors.
“Sometimes derelict and
apparently unimportant
urban environments can
“wIlDlIfe In A LArGE cITy LIKE LOndOn TEndS TO ExIST
be vital to the survival of
a species,” says the
In frAGMEnTEd POcKETS... WHEn yOU crEATE Or MOVE
Environment Agency’s
HABITATS, yOU HAVE TO EnSUrE THAT THE ecologIcal
redmond. “These sites
connectIvIty Is maIntaIneD or even enhanceD”
often act as parts of much
larger networks. Together, they
allow the UK to hold one of the largest
The ballast and surrounding earth root structure helps to hold it all together, location and replaced it with a clay varieties of protected sites in Europe.”
were dug up, loaded on to pallets and but when the aggregate has a layer of material, which provides the nutrient- “By having a thorough understanding
successfully translocated to the reserve. fine silt, as was the case here, it can poor substrate required for what we of the ecology and the requirements at sites
While this might sound like a simple albeit easily fall apart.” call brownfield flora,” he says. “This such as the Olympic Park, and by managing
physical task, it was painstaking work. Lovering also worked with Atkins flora – seeded from the original site – that efficiently, we can ensure that project
“There was a risk that the aggregate to recreate an important invertebrate is essential to attract invertebrate species delays and costs are kept to a minimum,”
would turn over during transport and habitat, which would compensate for such as the brown-banded carder bee.” says Olliver. “Most importantly, we can help
the natural strata that make the habitat one lost during construction of the The substrate was then surrounded by to make sure that the rich biodiversity of
so unique would be disturbed,” says stadium at Stratford: “We moved some log walls, which were drilled with holes in the UK is preserved and enhanced for
Lovering. “When you move turf, the 300 cubic metres of earth from the new order to encourage the bees to nest. generations to come.”
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