WITH 34 million passengers a year, you might not expect the land around the world's busiest single-runway airport to provide a thriving environment for any animal – let alone kestrels, kingfishers and mink.
But according to wildlife experts working under the flight path, this is exactly what is happening.
Rachel Bicker is a Gatwick-based ecologist trying to encourage natural, native, non-invasive species to thrive.
"There are two main sites we're working on, one to the north and one to the south near Tinsley Green," she said.
"Mink are an invasive species, so we don't manage habitat for them, but they are around. They thrive in river areas and I've seen them around Gatwick.
"There's a section of the River Mole which was diverted under the runway and it's a real wildlife haven. It's quite a wildlife hotspot, despite the fact that it's right under the flight path.
"You might think there would be a conflict between the airport and ecologists on the basis that animals and birds around the runway and flight path can be a safety issue, but they have excellent wildlife management at the airport, and usually noises and bangs disperse animals that are in the way.
"We're working on solutions to protect the wildlife. One of the solutions we are adopting is coppicing, which is where we cut back trees to the ground in order to have them re-shoot, which encourages beetles, dormice and spiders."
Rachel added that although some people might be troubled by the noise of low-flying aircraft, the birds seemed unconcerned.
"You get egrets, kingfishers and all kinds of birds and animals that people might not expect," she said.
"I've been out recording birds singing while the planes were flying overhead – but they aren't a problem for the birds, even if they are for some people, because they seem quite unperturbed.
"We have a lovely rare bird species called a black redstart by the River Mole. And there are great crested newts in the ancient woodland to the south-east."
Rachel's work is part of an ongoing scheme to win the airport a biodiversity benchmark award from the Wildlife Trust.
