Mayesbrook Climate Change Park

– ecosystem services

Robert Oates,

Executive Director, TRT

November 2013

Thames Rivers Trust

•Non Government

Organisation (NGO)

•Help to improve the River

Thames and its tributaries

•Partnership with public

and private organisations,

land owners, community

groups

Mayesbrook park – 2010

Flood management infrastructure - 2010

•50 years old, at end of useful life

•Designed for climate of the last century

•Replace like for like or a better approach?

•EA agreed to natural flood management

Mayesbrook - project objectives

•River restoration to meet new EU standards - WFD

•Better flood management through natural techniques

•Outdoor recreation in an inspiring landscape, including angling

•A sustainable asset in an area of social deprivation

•Show innovative partnership and joint funding

•Demonstrate an ecosystem services approach to planning and funding

Innovative partnership and funding

Phase 1 = £1.4m

Mayor of London - £400k

RSA insurance company - £300K

NE - £50k + £193k Access to Nature

SITA Trust -120k

EA - £100K

Borough of Barking - £60

Design for London - £50k

ODA - £120k

Transport for London £20k

Phase 2 = £2.6m

Funding = multiple benefits = multiple partners = multiple funding sources

Why a Climate Change Park

1 River restoration - increase resilience to floods and droughts

2 Improve water quality – ecosystem resilience

3 River corridor connectivity - for wildlife migration to new habitats

4 Floodplain creation – additional floodwater storage

5 Lakes restoration – urban cooling, sustainable fish populations

6 Planting trees – shade, urban cooling, biodiversity resilience

7 Café – exhibition about CC, park adaptation, individual actions

8 Climate change garden – drought resistant plants for future climate

9 Education panels – about the park and CC adaptation

10 Awareness raising – public support for adaptation needed

Public participation

Start of work on site 16 March 2011

Reach one – March 2011

Reach one - September 2011

Reach one - June 2012

Reach 2 – 2010

Reach 2 - 2012

Reach 2, Olympics centre and SUDS ponds

Olympics centre and SUDS ponds 2012

Reach 3 – March 2011

Reach 3 – September 2011

Reach 3 – June 2012

The completed restoration includes

•500 m of new sinuous channels => .to slow high flows and create habitat diversity

•450 m of re-graded banks => to increase high flow capacities and improve riparian habitat

•1.5 hectares of restored natural floodplain, including:

•1,000 m2 of new reed bed systems =>.for water purification and habitat diversity

•15,800 m3 of extra flood storage => to retain water and reduce local flood risks

•1,500 m2 of new SUDS for Olympic development => for water storage and filtration

•1 ha increase in woodland and tree cover => for habitat diversity, shading and cooling

•2 ha of enhanced and managed acid grassland => to improve habitat diversity

Payment for Environmental Services

•PES used to quantify the benefits from the project.

•EA ‘Ecosystem Services Study of the Mayesbrook Climate Change Park Project’ by Dr Mark Everard

•Benefits worth up to 7x the £4m of the whole scheme

•£27m worth of benefits of various types for the community over the next forty years

•Most benefits are estimated to be in the areas of health, recreation and tourism. Other benefits for water, wildlife, flood risk, air quality and house prices

•The report promotes the case for urban river and parkland habitat regeneration as a low-cost option to enhance natural environment and wildlife and the wellbeing and prosperity of local communities•Richard Benyon “A good deal by anybody’s standard”

Project Phase 2 – 2012 onwards

•Restore lake 1 for

boating and wildlife

•Restore lake 2 for

angling and wildlife

•Centre building with

toilets, wardens etc

•Café with climate

change garden

For more information

See the ‘Report of the Mayesbrook Park

restoration project’ on the TRT website