Conservationists say Canvey Wick in Essex shows potential for brownfield sites as havens for nature
“Y
ou must see this!” Marc Outten shoulders past tangles of blackthorn and shimmies around hummocks of blackberries the size of buses and glades filled with wildflowers. What beautiful wildlife spectacle awaits?
Weaving across carpets of bird’s foot trefoil, we reach our destination: a vast, barren circle of asphalt, 70 metres across – the ruins of an uncompleted oil refinery.
“You’ll find rare bees and reptiles around the edge and you’ve got these lovely stonecrops and lichens,” enthuses Outten, a naturalist and RSPB’s site manager for Canvey Wick nature reserve. The derelict asphalt pad is buzzing with rare nature.
