In honour of the Olympics, I have invited our London team to provide an insight into the wildlife and our work in our capital city.  So, if you need a break from watching fencing, football or field hockey, here's a glimpse of what will still be there long after the Games moves on to Rio...

The American sit-com Friends had 236 episodes, each, bar the first, and last, had a title, which started with the words "The One...” True friends are hugely important to the RSPB. We can achieve far more for London’s wildlife with the support of our friends than we would working alone.

The Tate Modern helps us by allowing us to set-up telescopes on their Southbank forecourt so we can point out the wild peregrine falcons that perch on their hundred-metre tall chimney. Peregrines are true Olympians, the fastest living creatures on the planet, capable of diving on prey at speeds in excess of 200 mph. What’s more amazing is that they’ve slowly inched back from the brink of UK extinction and the Tate peregrines are amongst the UK’s first to colonize our cities.

The Green Park Wildflower mix was part of our house sparrow partnership with The Royal Parks. Photo credit: Jacqueline Weir

Other generous friends include The Royal Parks, The City of London Corporation and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. They all work with us in partnerships to improve their open spaces and to share the benefits and relevance of those spaces with Londoners.

There are unexpected friends too. We have strong links with London Underground. They own a lot of land and have worked hard with us to create management plans for their embankments that ensure passenger safety while providing wildlife habitats that look good for passengers and residents without being expensive to maintain.

 

London Underground Central Line tube train along tracks in N E London where we piloted habitat management ideas. Photo credit: Tim Webb

Then there’s Crossrail. The RSPB is often accused of being anti-development. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are against stupid development, as everyone should be. Crossrail have thought through their impacts and have been prepared to invest in something that will bring future benefits.

Stuff dugout of the tunnel is loaded on to barges, shipped down the Thames and up the River Crouch to Wallasea. Here it’s forming part of Europe’s largest conservation and engineering scheme. The aim is to combat the threats from climate change and coastal flooding by recreating ancient wetland landscapes.

London’s wildlife is even more diverse than its human residents, but unlike us humans, it can’t be administered by any one council or landowner. This is where the London Biodiversity Partnership can play a major role by pooling and sharing collective knowledge and resources.

This matrix of mates is helping London develop without destroying its natural heritage. But, London is pushing its boundaries and the vision of development going hand-in-hand with the needs of nature and people is now being extended over larger areas. The RSPB calls it Futurescaping.

Like us on Facebook, support the RSPB or join the conversation on Twitter and together, we’ll be The ones to step up for nature.