Supporting biodiversity at the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012

Several diverse habitats were restored in the Olympic Park, including grassland, scrubland and wet woodland. The Park was positioned to enhance regional connectivity along the Lee River Valley by extending a chain of existing green spaces from the Lee Valley Regional Park toward the River Thames. Corridors throughout the park maintain connectivity for wildlife around recreational facilities and development. The native wildflower meadows in the Olympic Park during the Games inspired further naturalistic wildlife-supporting features in the legacy phase of development, and the use of temporary infrastructure during the Games left space for additional features afterwards. Monitoring has recorded six highly protected bird species and 91 nationally scarce invertebrate species, as well as 7 different bat species and 20 butterfly species. As part of species-specific goals, the Park included special resources, such as bird and bat boxes, amphibian ponds, dead logs for beetles, kingfisher and sand martin nesting banks, and artificial otter holts. While biodiversity provision in the Olympic Park was part of a large-scale revitalisation project, individual elements, such as siting and designing venues to maintain regional connectivity, use of native plants to attract attention to biodiversity, and addition of special resources, could also be applied in smaller-scale projects.