Enfield Council unveils plans for London’s largest nature reserve

The capital is set to get one of the largest nature reserves close to a major city in the UK.

Around 1,000 hectares – around 2,471 acres – of farmland will be turned into a publicly accessible nature reserve in Enfield, north London.

The reserve was planned in a bid to improve biodiversity in the capital and is set to create “hundreds of hectares of new forest, which will be easily accessible via a network of footpaths and cycle paths”.

Called the Enfield Chase Landscape Restoration Project, the reserve is the latest in a line of ideas to improve the area’s green spaces. As of 2020, 140,000 trees have been planted in the north London borough.

Enfield Council and various partners want to “reduce the landscape to the more natural state it was in hundreds of years ago”.

A spokesman said: “Over the years, ancient woodlands have seen rivers diverted, trees felled and wildlife habitats destroyed. River dredging has also caused significant flooding problems, with waterways being diverted from their natural floodplains.

“The landscape project will aim to attract visitors to the area while restoring heavily altered rivers to a more natural state and reducing downstream flooding in urban parts of the borough such as Edmonton. Natural flood management measures such as ponds and woodlands will help with this while creating habitats for wildlife.”

Enfield Council is working with river restoration charity Thames 21, as well as the Forestry Commission, Climate Action Enfield and Friends of Enfield Chase.

Friends of Enfield Chase chairman John Cole said: “The sky is the limit. There is an opportunity for revelers, runners and cyclists to learn more about it and put it on the map.

“The whole idea of ​​the survey is that it’s the beginning, we want to capture the thoughts and first of all make it a more pleasant place and increase access.”