Member Article

Protecting wildlife on and around the Thames bridges

Leading independent environmental consultancy, Thomson Environmental Consultants, has been advising on the protection of wildlife living in and around the bridges on the River Thames as part of the Illuminated Rivers project in London. The scheme recently went live with the first four bridges being lit over the Summer as part of Phase One.

Marine and ecology consultants at Thomson have been involved with the project since late 2016 which aims to revitalise and enhance the bridges in central London using kinetic light sculpture. This is a free art installation, to be enjoyed by Londoners, commuters and visitors, and will be associated with 15 bridges from Albert Bridge in Chelsea to Tower Bridge.

Teams of marine and ecology experts from Thomson surveyed the wildlife on and around all 15 bridges that are part of the illuminated river installation along the River Thames covering a distance of 8km. Although a total of twenty two bird species were recorded in surveys, very few of these were found to actually nest on the bridges with the exception of one Egyptian Goose which had seven goslings, all of which fledged successfully, several feral Pigeons, a Starling and one Canada Goose. Only one bat species was recorded in the Battersea Park area but no bat roosts were found in the bridges.

Richard Arnold, Director of Ecology at Thomson said:

“We are immensely proud to have been involved in helping to lay the groundwork for the biggest art installation in Europe. Our role in surveying the ecology on and around the bridges was to ensure that the installation was not going to impact adversely on any wildlife that might be living in the vicinity. The noise and light pollution in central London means that rare species aren’t attracted to the area we surveyed, although the Egyptian goose was a surprise find!

“Our results were crucial in helping the scheme to move smoothly through the planning process, including discharging environmental planning conditions. Our ecology and marine experts also advised on protection of aquatic life in the river to ensure that light pollution didn’t impact on their behaviour.”

Phase One of Illuminated River, covering London, Cannon Street, Southwark and Millennium bridges, was completed in summer 2019, and the team are on track to complete phase two by autumn 2020, which will include bridges from Blackfriars Road Bridge to Lambeth, including Waterloo, Golden Jubilee Footbridges and Westminster Bridge.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Thomson Environmental Consultants .