Construction of London Gateway port wildlife reserve begins

DP World is creating a new wetland 30 times the size of Trafalgar Square by breaching part of the Essex coast’s flood defence wall. The new wildlife reserve will provide feeding areas for thousands of birds flying south for the winter. New habitats will also be created for adders, newts, lizards and water voles, which are being re-homed as part of the development works for the new deep sea container port.

The project is the culmination of two years of preparations for this complex engineering project. Carillion, the contractor for DP World, is removing 300m of existing sea wall at low tide. The tide will then flood the 30 hectare site creating new intertidal mudflats, which are ideal feeding areas for avocets, dunlins, black tailed godwits and many other species of birds. A new flood defence wall has been created around the land to be flooded.

DP World has worked closely with many environmental authorities to deliver the new wildlife reserve including the Environment Agency, the Marine Management Organisation, the Port of London Authority, Natural England and the RSBP. A new pathway has also been created to allow recreation activities to continue around the site.