A Haggerston haven for nature and wildlife has been recognised in the 2020 Green Flag Awards.
The Kingsland Basin and Regent’s Canal Nature Reserve was awarded a Green Flag this week for delivering several biodiversity improvements. The Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston (WGH) received praise for their tireless efforts to enhance and regenerate the area’s natural reserves.
The swan, heron, kingfisher and peregrine falcon have flocked to this area, which has been made to imitate their natural environment.
Gideon Corby, co-founder of the WGH, said that, “everyone who cares to listen, knows that we are in a crisis of biodiversity.” He told the Hackney Post that “Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe … Our national parks are mostly farmland and we’ve lost 97% of our wildflower meadows, so we are lagging behind the rest of Europe.”
Corby said the Kingsland Basin was a neglected industrial site back in 2012, designated by the Greater London Authority as being deficient in access to green space. “The neglect of the basin would have continued … There was no one else doing the job so it was up to us.”
WGH co-founder Esther Adelman said, “When you give space for nature, even in the most densely populated areas, it’s amazing what comes and arrives. It’s amazing to see everything thriving.”
The WGH’s rejuvenation of the basin has been acknowledged by locals who have thanked them for improving the area for residents and wildlife alike.
Esther has said the locals have been “super positive”, and that the basin became the “talk of the area” during the COVID-19 lockdown. Gideon said that because of all the work they are doing, “we really feel we are part of the community, and proudly so.”
