Crossrail Project Island: a Thriving Bird Haven
The Wallasea Island habitat restoration project has transformed the site into a thriving wildlife reserve. Record numbers of birds now arrive each winter following the restoration work.
RSPB Wallasea Island is a 740-hectare nature reserve near Rochford in Essex. Developers created it using more than three million tonnes of excavated earth from the Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) project.
Wallasea Island Habitat Restoration Using Crossrail Soil
Between 2011 and 2015, boats transported material from London to the island. The soil came from tunnels and shafts excavated during construction of the Elizabeth Line.
More than a decade ago, the island supported only small numbers of birds. Last winter, surveyors counted almost 40,000 birds across the reserve.
Rachel Fancy, Wallasea Island site manager, said:
“It’s been really good and an amazing project to be a part of.”
Wildlife Returns After Wallasea Island Habitat Restoration
Jubilee Marsh, at the centre of Wallasea Island, is one of the key areas benefiting from the habitat restoration, providing ideal feeding and nesting conditions for thousands of birds.
In total, 39,000 birds arrived at Wallasea Island during the winter months. This marked the highest number ever recorded at the site.
For hundreds of years, the sea remained cut off from the island. When the RSPB took over, it set out to restore Wallasea Island as a natural wetland habitat.
Engineers used soil from the Crossrail excavations to raise parts of the land to around 1.5 metres above sea level. They reshaped the landscape and built new sea walls. The work created mudflats, lagoons and salt marshes.
In July 2015, teams removed sections of the sea wall. Tidal water then flowed back onto Wallasea Island for the first time in 400 years.
As water returned, lagoons, salt marshes and new islands formed. These habitats now provide ideal feeding and nesting conditions. The RSPB said the project has also created natural flood defences that help absorb storm surges and rising sea levels.
Ms Fancy said:
“The mud flats and salt marshes along the east coast are all part of a massive flyway – the east Atlantic flyway – which birds will use to migrate through to the winter.
“They stay here through the winter when it’s warmer than the north and they move up through the coast in the summer.
“Birds will come in their thousands to feed and breed during the summer.”
Transforming Wallasea Island: From Construction Site to Thriving Habitat
Wallasea Island now feels calm and remote. For four years, however, it operated as a major construction site. Soil arrived around the clock by boat and by land.
When the sea first returned in 2015, the landscape looked bare. Vegetation was scarce, and birds had little food. Since then, habitats have improved year on year.
Ms Fancy added:
“It was totally different to what it is now; high-vis vests, safety helmets, at least 20 dumper trucks plus all the other machinery moving material around to where it needed to be.
“People working on boats 24 hours a day, and then a lunar-scape where you saw bare soil mud being moved, with no vegetation and hardly any wildlife either.”
As the wetlands matured, bird populations increased steadily. Last winter, numbers peaked at 39,000 birds. The result now ranks Wallasea Island among the UK’s most successful habitat restoration projects.
“It’s been a really good and an amazing project to be a part of, and really nice to see that development afterwards,” Ms Fancy added.
“From building site all the way through to a peaceful landscape where you can go on a walk and enjoy the wildlife.”
About Natural World Fund
Natural World Fund focuses on restoring and protecting habitats across the UK to support long-term wildlife recovery.