A six-century silence is ending in London's skies. White storks, extinct locally since the Middle Ages, will be reintroduced to Eastbrookend Country Park in the east London neighborhood of Dagenham in October 2026, reported the BBC.
The return is part of a coordinated rewilding effort to reconnect Londoners with nature and restore lost wildlife habitats.
I am so here for this. Well done London!! White storks back in London after 600-year absence https://t.co/kcEM169IvY
— Celia Richardson (@CeliaRichards0n) December 8, 2025
The park's wetlands and meadows have been carefully shaped to support the storks' return. A large aviary will house the first birds, allowing them to acclimate before exploring nearby lakes and grasslands. Eastbrookend will become only the second publicly accessible site in the UK where people can see white storks reintroduced on this scale, following a successful program in Sussex.
Beavers are also set to return to the park in March 2027. These rodents were absent from the capital for about 400 years until a small group was released at a nature reserve in Greenford, Ealing in 2023. Beavers shape wetland environments by creating ponds and channels that support insects, amphibians, birds, and fish, making them powerful partners in ecological regeneration, as the U.S. National Park Service explained.
"Species reintroductions like this close to where people live spark conversations about the art of the possible in urban areas. It might surprise people that east London has lots of suitable habitat for these species," Sam Davenport, the director of nature recovery at London Wildlife Trust, told The Guardian.
The initiative has received nearly £500,000 from the mayor of London's Green Roots Fund, alongside support from Barking & Dagenham Council and the London Wildlife Trust.
Dominic Twomey, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, highlighted the community aspect of the rewilding project. "It's about more than wildlife — it's about giving families, schools, and community groups the chance to be part of something inspiring and hopeful," he said.
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Mayor Sadiq Khan emphasized that access to green space is a matter of social justice. "It can't just be those who live in the countryside who get to share their home with our amazing wild creatures," he said, per the BBC.
With schools and local communities invited to engage directly, the project promises not only to restore London's lost wildlife, but also inspire the next generation of urban conservationists.
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