New Food Sources for Wildlife
The Crown Estate’s new mixed use development at St James’s Market has 760 square metres of green space, creating valuable new habitat for wildlife. These comprise privately accessible terraces with green roofs at the 7th floor level at 1 St James’s Market, and a green roof on 2 St James’s Market.
Each of the spaces has been seeded with wild flowers, carefully chosen for their vibrant colours. The flowering plants will provide seeds for birds to feed on and a nectar source throughout spring and summer for bees and butterflies.
Five bird boxes have been installed as close as possible to these new food sources – with the aim of encouraging the locally rare black redstart to roost within the boxes, as well as some of the more common urban species such as the blue tit and gold finch.
Not forgetting the smaller creatures, log piles have been installed across both roofs to create habitats for invertebrates such as spiders, and solitary bees and wasps. These are essential for pollination and also provide another source of food for birds and bats.
Quick Facts
Estate: The Crown Estate
Location: 1 & 2 St James’s Market
Features: Green roofs
Area of green space: 760 square metres