Latest news with #WhiteStorkProject
BBC News
04-08-2025
- General
- BBC News
Rewilding charity seeks views on reintroducing storks to London
The image of a stork carrying a baby in a bundle dangling from its beak, on its way to deliver the child to its new parents, is as old as the birds and the the long-legged birds largely disappeared from the skies above London centuries ago due to hunting and habitat loss - though babies continued to be born in the capital despite their absence. Now a conservation charity is asking Londoners for their views on the potential return of white storks to the birds are known to thrive in urban settings on the continent, and urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is conducting an appraisal on making London a "white stork-friendly city". Citizen Zoo said it is reaching out to boroughs across the capital to gauge their response and surveying the public about the 2016, a white stork project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks, with the first successful breeding in the four decades before the start of that project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater between 2016 and 2023 there have been 472 sightings in the capital, with the numbers increasing year-on-year, conservationists Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, said white storks are a "talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention".He added: "You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it's quite obvious."And if you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes, on chimneys, on pylons, and are associated with thriving in urban settings."What we want to see is how can we make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live." Mr Newton said it is "completely within our will as a species to choose the environments that we build around us and we can make that conscious choice to integrate more nature into our cities, and that will bring a whole wealth of benefits."The survey of Londoners is being led by the University of Brighton, with two phases that mirror a national survey conducted as part of the white stork project in national survey found overall people were very positive towards the species, even if they had never seen storks before, although there was a lack of knowledge about things such as the stork's diet, and even what they looked a "relatively small" number of people - often those who were ecologists, conservationists or birders - were not in favour of the reintroduction, largely because it was not a threatened species and they thought it should not be a priority for first phase of the London study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the Newton added that "nature has a fantastic tendency to surprise us" and it is possible storks could establish themselves in London again without human to European folklore, a white stork is responsible for bringing babies to new parents. The tale was popularised by a Hans Christian Andersen story from 1839 called The Storks.
Telegraph
04-08-2025
- General
- Telegraph
White storks could return to London for the first time in centuries
Long-vanished white storks could return to London for the first time in hundreds of years. The public is being asked for views on the potential return of the birds to the capital, as part of a project to see if they could make a home there. White storks have been reintroduced in southern England, leading to an 'explosion' in sightings across Greater London in recent years. Now conservationists are looking at whether the metre-tall birds, which are known to thrive in urban settings on the continent, could do the same in London. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as in trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. Since 2016, the white stork project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks - which can act as a 'magnet' for wild birds that visit from the continent - at Knepp and Wadhurst Park, with the first successful breeding in 2020. In the four decades before the start of the project, there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London. But between 2016 and 2023 there have been 472 sightings in the capital, with the numbers increasing year-on-year, conservationists said. Community-focused urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is conducting an appraisal on making London a 'white stork-friendly city', including habitat mapping, reaching out to boroughs across the capital to gauge their response and surveying the public about the birds. It has worked with communities to bring beavers back to Ealing, reintroduce water voles in Surrey and restore wetlands in the capital, in efforts to bring city dwellers closer to nature, deliver wellbeing benefits and make London more resilient to climate change. The storks have wider ecological benefits for their habitat, creating huge nests which are homes and food sources for an array of species from insects to birds. But it is their ability to inspire people about nature that has been a key part of reintroduction efforts in the UK. Elliot Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, said: 'These are a really talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention. 'You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it's quite obvious.' The survey is being led by the University of Brighton's Rachel White, with two phases that mirror a national survey she conducted as part of the white stork project in Sussex. The first phase of the study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the capital. Dr White said: 'It is really important to be monitoring stakeholders' opinions and attitudes towards any reintroductions, because that's one of the main reasons that reintroduction projects fail - they haven't got the buy-in from the key stakeholders. 'It is really important to not assume, or to not just go ahead with projects, because you see the conservation value in it.' She said projects need to ensure a majority of people are onboard with a reintroduction, that the rationale has been clearly communicated and people have been given the opportunity to have their say. The national survey found overall people were very positive towards the species, even if they had never seen storks before, although there was a lack of knowledge about things such as the stork's diet, and even what they looked like. But a 'relatively small' number of people - often those who were ecologists, conservationists or birders - were not in favour of the reintroduction, largely because it was not a threatened species and they thought it should not be a priority for action, she added. The London survey will feed into the wider assessment by Citizen Zoo of the political and public enthusiasm, and habitat availability for storks, and potential next steps such as creating more habitat to encourage natural colonisation or even a release similar to that in Sussex. However, Mr Newton added that 'nature has a fantastic tendency to surprise us', with the possibility storks could establish themselves in the capital of their own accord.
The Guardian
03-08-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Rewilding group to assess possible return of white storks to London
An urban rewilding group is seeking the public's views on the potential return of white storks to London as part of a project to see if the birds could make a home in the capital. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and in trees, but they disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird as a result of hunting and habitat loss. Citizen Zoo, an organisation that specialises in community-led urban rewilding, is conducting an appraisal on making London a 'white stork-friendly city'. It will include habitat mapping, contacting boroughs across the capital to gauge their interest and surveying the public about the birds. The White Stork Project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured birds at Knepp and Wadhurst Park since 2016. These can act as a 'magnet' for wild birds that visit from the continent, and the project's first breeding success was in 2020. In the four decades before the start of the project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London, but there were 472 sightings between 2016 and 2023, with the numbers increasing year on year, conservationists said. Elliot Newton, a co-founder of Citizen Zoo and its director of rewilding, said: 'If you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes. What we want to see is how we can make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live.' The survey is being led by Dr Rachel White, of the University of Brighton, with two phases that mirror a national survey she conducted as part of the White Stork Project in Sussex. The first phase has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and the second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their views on white storks and their place in the capital. The London survey will feed into Citizen Zoo's wider assessment of the political and public enthusiasm and habitat availability for storks, and potential next steps such as creating more habitat to encourage natural colonisation or even a release similar to that in Sussex. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Citizen Zoo has previously worked with communities to bring beavers back to Ealing, reintroduce water voles in Surrey and restore wetlands in the capital.
BBC News
07-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Storks migrate back to conservation project at Knepp estate
Storks born in England have successfully returned home after migrating to White Stork Project, launched in 2016, releases young storks at the Knepp estate in West Sussex and Wadhurst Park in East Sussex to encourage the birds to later return there to least six birds born at Knepp in 2024 returned to nest in the colony, including one who has set up home in the same tree as her parents, according to project officer Laura estate owner Isabella Tree said the estate's storks were "interacting with wild birds and bringing wild birds back with them as pairs". Storks stopped breeding in Britain centuries ago due to hunting and habitat now living at Knepp had given birth to more than a dozen fledglings by May and about 40 more were expected in 2025. The project began reintroducing storks to southern England in 2016 by taking on rescued, non-flying birds from Warsaw Zoo, in Poland, breeding them at Cotswold Wildlife Park, then releasing their young in Polish storks, some of which have injuries that mean they can fly short distances but not migrate, live in or around a fox-proof enclosure at Knepp, breeding and establishing the founding colonies that will attract other ground-nesting storks are hand-fed pieces of fish to supplement food their parents can source in the storks' success at Knepp showed that "sort the habitat out, the soils, insects, healthy water systems, and then your storks will come eventually," Ms Vaughan-Hirsch said."We all see the white stork as a big charismatic species but what it really is, is an emblem for nature recovery."The landscape at Knepp has undergone rewilding since 2000, converting agricultural land into scrub, disturbed ground and are also areas of woodland, the nearby river has been restored to a more natural state, and reintroduced beavers in an enclosure have turned a small stream into insect-filled Tree added: "What are we are seeing is that even species that don't have a reputation as being keystone species have an effect on ecosystems."They are doing extraordinary things that we had never really known about." Additional reporting by PA Media.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Knepp: Baby storks born at UK's first 'European Stork Village'
An estate south of Horsham, West Sussex, has become the UK's first 'European Stork Village' as 12 baby birds are born, according to biologist Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, leader of the White Stork chicks are being raised in four ground nests, overseen by Knepp Wilding as part of the nests have been built by non-flying stork parents, who were injured in the wild, rescued by Warsaw Zoo and quarantined at Cotswold Wildlife Park and babies are being "protected in a predator-proof but open-topped pen" where "the young will be free to fly free" and other storks can visit them, said the White Stork Project. Ms Vaughan-Hirsch, who leads the project for Knepp Wildland Foundation, says efforts began in 2016 as part of a wider stork reintroduction project in southern bird species became extinct in the UK more than 600 years ago, with humans disturbing their habitat and causing their numbers to the arrival of the new hatchlings follows nine chicks who fledged from Knepp in 2024."Amazingly, some migrated all the way to Morocco," said a White Stork Project spokesperson."It's proof that even with a different start to life, these young storks are full of the same instinct to explore and journey." 'Their individuality shines through' The project says some mature nests can reach over 1.8 metres (5ft 11in) tall and 2m (6ft 7in) wide."Storks are opportunistic in their nesting choices, making use of whatever is most convenient in their environment," said Becca Bowie, from the White Stork Project."While all nests serve the same purpose, their individuality shines through, giving each nest its own unique flare."The project says that staff and volunteers are keeping a close eye on the chicks and tracking their progress.
