The native birds, which were driven to extinction in Britain in the 1400s, will be located in Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham from October next year, making the site the second publicly accessible white stork reintroduction project in the country.
Beavers will also be released at the park in March 2027. These rodents were first reintroduced in the capital in 2023 at a nature reserve in Greenford, Ealing.
The new project in east London received £500,000 from the mayor of London's Green Roots Fund, Barking and Dagenham Council and the London Wildlife Trust.
Sam Davenport, director of nature recovery at London Wildlife Trust said he hoped the reintroduction of white storks and beavers could inspire an "ambitious future for nature recovery in the capital".
Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Dominic Twomey, said the reintroduction of white storks in London built on the wild breeding project in Sussex.
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Sir Sadiq Khan's Green Roots Fund will see a £12m investment over the next three years in projects that aim to make London greener, healthier and more climate resilient.
"Access to nature is an issue of social justice and it can't just be those who live in the countryside who get to share their home with our amazing wild creatures," Sir Sadiq said.
"Everyone deserves to enjoy nature, no matter where they live. This is only the beginning of the change we will see."
White storks (Ciconia ciconia) are large, iconic wading birds with white plumage, black wing feathers, long red legs, and a red bill. They stand about 1 meter tall, with a wingspan up to 2 meters, and are known for their distinctive bill-clattering displays and massive nests on rooftops or tall structures. As of December 2025, white storks are not yet resident in London but are set for a historic reintroduction. Extinct as breeding birds in Britain since the 1400s, they are being brought back through a rewilding project at Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham, east London—the first in the capital in 600 years. Funded by £500,000 from the Mayor's Green Roots Fund, the project (run by London Wildlife Trust and Barking & Dagenham Council) will start with captive-bred birds in aviaries from October 2026, allowing free-flying offspring to establish a wild colony. This builds on successful UK reintroductions at Knepp Estate in Sussex, where wild breeding resumed in 2020.
The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large, iconic wading bird in the stork family, known worldwide for its striking appearance and long-distance migrations.AppearanceAdults stand about 100–115 cm tall with a wingspan of 155–215 cm. They feature mainly white plumage with black flight feathers on the wings, long red legs, and a pointed red bill. They are often seen soaring gracefully or clattering their bills in displays.
Habitat and Behavior White storks prefer open habitats like grasslands, wetlands, farmlands, and pastures. They build massive stick nests on rooftops, trees, poles, or buildings, often in loose colonies. Their diet includes insects, frogs, fish, rodents, and small reptiles. Famous for symbolism (e.g., delivering babies in folklore) and as harbingers of spring in Europe, they form monogamous pairs and are tolerant of humans.Global DistributionWhite storks breed across Europe, northwestern Africa, and western Asia, with a separate population in southern Africa. Most migrate to sub-Saharan Africa for winter, while some head to India; they follow two main flyways, avoiding the Mediterranean Sea by detouring via the Levant or Gibraltar.
Conservation efforts have helped populations recover from 20th-century declines due to habitat loss and hunting, though threats like power lines and climate change persist. They remain a beloved symbol of nature and good luck in many cultures.
