Local children sow the seeds for Olympic Park

The joint project with the Olympic Delivery Authority and Hackney Council will see the creation of a wildlife corridor around the north perimeter of the Olympic Park site covering more than 10,000 square metres. The area will become home to a variety of wildlife including birds, frogs, spiders and beetles, including endangered ground bugs and the rare ‘toadflax brocade’ moth.

Natural materials, much recycled from the Olympic Park site clearance programme, has been used to create different habitat areas including log walls, compost piles and earth mounds.

The two classes from London Fields primary school in Hackney helped with the planting to help create the grasslands and wildflower areas and will be invited back between now and 2012 to see their work grow and develop.

Head of Sustainable Development and Regeneration for the ODA, Dan Epstein said:

“We began an extensive ecology programme last year to identify and translocate a range of wildlife to new habitats and ensure that feeding and breeding habitats are not disrupted by the work to create the venues

“We want to make sure that the local communities are part of this process as these school children will be the ones using the venues and parklands long after 2012.”

Kim Wright, Hackney Council’s Corporate Director of Community Services, said;

“Hackney Council, working in partnership with the ODA, is creating a new nature reserve along the banks of the River Lea by East Marsh. This is part of a package of improvements to Hackney Marshes that will be a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games.

“The nature reserve will be home to a broad range of plants and wildlife unlikely to have previously been seen there. Hackney residents will be active in creating and developing the area including the planting which pupils from London Fields Primary School are doing today.”

Volunteers from the London Wildlife Trust also attended the planting to help the children.

The London Wildlife Trust Officer for the 2012 Games, Girish Rambaran said:

“The London Wildlife Trust is excited about the potential for habitat creation and enhancement around and within the Olympic Park. The East Marsh Wildlife Corridor project is a good example of what can be achieved for the Olympic legacy.

“The variety of habitats to be created here including shaded wildflower grasslands and log walls with rubble bunds, will present a variety of opportunities for the colonization of invertebrates, birds and reptiles. Engaging local school children to learn about wildlife habitats and species diversity is one of LWT’s key aims.”

In addition, the ODA has created additional habitat space in the Waterworks Nature Reserve near Leyton, East London.

Last summer almost 2,000 smooth newts and over 100 common toads were translocated from the Olympic Park to the Waterworks Nature Reserve and in order to make sure there is enough room for the increasing colony, another purpose-built pond has be constructed.

Notes to Editors:

1.The ODA’s Sustainable Development Strategy was published in January 2007. The strategy sets out a series of targets to ensure that the Olympic Park, venues and infrastructure are delivered in a sustainable manner, leaving a lasting social, economic and environmental legacy for east London. The document cam be viewed or downloaded from the London 2012 website: http://www.london2012.com/news/publications/index.php
 
2. The ODA will increase and improve the ecological areas at the Olympic Park. As part of this, East Marsh at the northern end of the Olympic Park site has been identified in partnership with Natural England and Hackney Borough Council as an opportunity to create a habitat for invertebrates.

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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 700 or visit the website at www.london2012.com.

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