Habitat loss on Wanstead Flats

I have lived beside Wanstead Flats for 38 years, and in that time, as a botanist and natural history enthusiast, the Flats have been brought me so much pleasure. I have tracked its changes in mood, the effects of climatic cycles and the influence of man's activities. I have helped to set up the East London Nature group (www.eastlondonnature.co.uk) and have photographed many of its plants. Over the past few years I have been increasingly concerned at the way in which man-made changes have dramatically changed and impoverished the diversity of topography and species on the Flats.

I will illustrate this first of all by referring to the pond near the site of the old bandstand at the junction of Capel Road and Centre Road. In my early days I found a wonderful range of grasses, rushes and sedges around its margins. Succeeding years saw dumping go unchecked, curious and inexplicable dredging, and a general lack of understanding or apparent concern about this important feature of the area. I attach a few of the pictures that I took in the 80's and early 90's to illustrate my point. (see Fig. 1 below). All of these species could once be found in many places on the Flats. Alas, this is no longer true. The cutting off of water supplying 'The Spring' (near the junction of Aldersbrook Road and Centre Road) has lost us a wonderful little habitat where many long-gone species thrived such as the Celery-leaved Buttercup. The Black Sedge (once common) and the Glaucous Sedge (once rare) are now no more.

The recent pipe-laying works also brought casualties as in Bush Wood North, on the Wanstead side of Bush Road. Here, a small population of Harebells has gone and, more importantly, we have lost one of the few occurrences of Silver Hair-grass in this part of the world. The disappearance of a permanent wetland to the east of Jubilee Pond has caused the demise of many species including  a beautiful stand of Tufted Hair-grass and leafy liverworts in the damp ditches beside it.  On a ridge running from below the Spring southward parallel to Centre Road was a healthy growth of Yellow Oat-grass - not so today. These things, amongst others, have been allowed to happen.

The removal of the invasive birches in recent times was unfortunately accompanied by destruction of the small birch copse that provided an environment for a wealth of fungi including Fly Agaric and Brown Birch Bolete. I now fear that current mowing regimes may threaten other species - Heath-grass, Mat-grass, Grass Vetchling and Marchantia polymorpha to name but a few (see Fig. 2 below).

Local naturalists will know the wonderful diversity of the Flats  and just how fragile and vulnerable are its small communities.  One imagines that such local naturalists are consulted before these seemingly draconian management and public works initiatives are embarked upon. Since the Flats is 'ours' - Wanstead Villagers, Forest Gate-ites, Leytonstonians, and the wider community for generations to come - I sincerely hope so!

Roger Snook, April 2010


P.S. Has anyone noticed the single clump of Upright Brome in the grassland near the 'Big Beech' at the corner of Aldersbrook and Centre Roads. It has been there for all my 38 years in the area - if no one else has noticed it, how much longer will it remain?

 

Flats 1Fig. 1

Flats 2Fig. 2