Ripple Nature Reserve is an

Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

and Local Nature Reserve in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is owned by the borough council. The site is a mixture of woodland, scrub and grassland. Most soils in London are acidic, but this site has a very alkaline soil due to the dumping of fuel ash, and can therefore support locally unusual plants. The most important of these are

pyramidal A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilater ...

and southern marsh orchids, grey club rush and wild basil. The site also has large numbers of rabbits and goldfinches. Some rare species of insects are present, including

emerald damselfly ''Lestes sponsa'', is a damselfly, with a wide Palaearctic distribution. It is known commonly as the emerald damselfly or common spreadwing. Both males and females have a metallic green colour and when resting its wings are usually half opened. ...

. Access is at the corner of Renwick Road and Thames Road.

References

External links

* * * {{Local Nature Reserves in Greater London Nature reserves in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local nature reserves in Greater London