The William Curtis Ecological Park was the United Kingdom's first urban ecology park. Max Nicholson and the Trust for Urban Ecology (created at the same time, by Nicholson) created it on a derelict lorry park near Tower Bridge in London in 1976. It was named for the 18th century botanist William Curtis. In 1985 it was returned to the site owner, the London Docklands Development Corporation, who provided the Stave Hill Ecological Park in Rotherhithe as a replacement. City Hall and Potters Fields Park now occupy the site.
For more on Urban Ecology see The Conservation Volunteers.
The Nature of Cities gives the history of ecological parks: "Max Nicholson ... persuaded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Committee that they should create an Ecology Park as part of the celebrations to be held in 1977. His idea was to convert an unsightly patch of derelict land on the south bank of the Thames next to Tower Bridge into a mixture of natural habitats that could be used for environmental education by local schools.... two acres of derelict land were made available ... on the understanding that the park would eventually close when planned development went ahead....{it's} likely that Max Nicholson’s proposal was influenced by the work of Lyndis Cole, one of his staff ... She was a real pioneer and it was no surprise when she was given the job of creating the new ecology park at Tower Bridge.... During its short life, it had over 100,000 visits from local schoolchildren."
Other London ecology parks include: Camley Street Natural Park' Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park.
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