The healing river
How volunteers are restoring the River Lea.
Here in the UK I live on the bank of the River Lea, a valuable thread of water that runs from Bedfordshire through East London. It’s a valley of incredible historical importance, being the birthplace of much in the way of industry and an important water source for London.
I used to live in Stratford further along the Lea and spent many a warm summer day wandering or cycling through Hackney Marshes, an enormous network of playing fields beside the river and a major draw for people to unwind at the weekend.
But the Lea is also one of the most polluted rivers in the country. Despite being a major artery for birds, mammals, insects and plantlife, it has suffered from years of runoff, waste and fly tipping. People unable to resist the lure of the water on hot days immerse themselves in a bath of raw sewage, industrial chemicals, rat urine and E.coli.
Still, it has the potential to be an incredible channel of biodiversity, and there are ambitious plans under way to rewild both the river and the surrounding land.
A project to restore the old river has already begun in earnest, with volunteers working to plant reed beds and build log pile habitats along the eroded banks.
Volunteers have also been busy creating new habitats throughout Hackney Marshes, reusing old construction waste to make new spaces for solitary bees and mammals and add biodiversity to the surrounding area. Log piles encourage small animals like shrews which in turn become food for kestrels and weasels, building up the basis of the entire food chain.
Linking these projects together creates vital green corridors for species to move around, cross-pollinating each other and helping restore the health of the entire Lea Valley.
It’s an incredible example of how we can rethink and redesign our green spaces to benefit wildlife as well as humans. Transforming the monotonous, unused mown grass into complex layers with undulations and dry spaces and wet spaces and cool spaces and warm spaces will attract diverse species and make more interesting landscapes for people too.
It’s not about shutting people out of green spaces, but reintroducing the habitats that wildlife need and benefitting them without conflict.
Local filmmaker and environmentalist Ian Phillips has created a wonderful project update video that details the work gone into the project so far. Save this post and find 15 minutes in your day to sit down with a cup of tea and appreciate what can be achieved when like-minded volunteers work together to make their urban spaces work for nature.
Don’t forget to check out Ian’s other work too at his YouTube channel.