Leading property company keen to encourage nature to flourish at its offices blocks in London

             

Derwent's Featherstone Building in London - there are bee-friendly flowers on the rooftop 

ONE of Britain's largest property companies is doing its bit for nature and wildlife.

Derwent London plc has a portfolio of more than 60 office blocks, most of them located in central London.

For health and safety reasons, it is reluctant to incorporate water features into its development schemes, but it invariably seeks to create a green and leafy setting, sometimes with rooftop planting to encourage bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

At its annual meeting earlier this month, it emerged that the company is also planting native trees on land in its Scottish estate.

Quizzed by a shareholder, the reply came back:  "In 2015 and 2019, we planted approximately 100 acres of mixed woodland species  -  birch, sycamore, beech, holly, oak and willow and  others. 

"It is our intention to plant a further 100 acres of native species across the Scottish estate in 2025. 

"As part of each new woodland application or planning application, we undertake nesting bird surveys and habitat surveys. 

"In March this year, our 5.4-hectare meadow at Bargenny Hill, near Torrance in East Dunbartonshire was recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

"The meadow supports an orchid-rich mix of plant species, including the threatened Greater Butterfly Orchid, Northern Marsh Orchid and  a variety of other scarce grassland species."

One disappointment is that, as yet, Derwent London has not followed the lead of other developers, particularly housebuilders, in installing nestbricks for swifts.

However, this may change in future.

Says the company: "When we are doing external works, we get advice from ecologists and landscape architects as to the most appropriate planting to encourage wildlife and biodiversity, including the use of bird and/or bat boxes.

"In the meantime, we are currently exploring the installation of beehives, bug and solitary bee hotels in our portfolio

" All new build and major refurbishment projects are set a biodiversity net gain target. 

"For the rest of 2024, our target is for projects to deliver an improvement of last  15 per cent to the biodiversity value of each site."

Derwent London also supports the London Wildlife Trust at its Woodberry Wetlands Centre in Hackney, East London, where reedbed habitats are being restored.                                                       

Woodberry Wetlands - habitat for water rail, great crested grebe, green sandpiper and other water birds