The Sustain Magazine Award for Biodiversity has gone to Tarmac’s Northumberland Quarries Biodiversity Action Plan – a holder of The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark.
At the Sustain Magazine Awards ceremony on Tuesday night, Tarmac was presented with the Award for Biodiversity due to its work in making Northumberland Quarries a place for wildlife to thrive. Last year, Tarmac was awarded The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark for the work undertaken at all seven of its active Northumberland quarries. This work has resulted in a healthier habitat for species such as the red squirrel, skylark and bat.
The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark is a management process which enables any organisation which owns or manages land to assess its impact on the natural world, improve its contribution to the environment and demonstrate its commitment to biodiversity. By working with environmental organisations such as local Wildlife Trusts to manage their land, Biodiversity Benchmark holders create habitats where species can thrive, and contribute to The Wildlife Trusts’ vision of A Living Landscape.
Tarmac was one of three Biodiversity Benchmark holders short-listed for Sustain Magazine awards. Aggregate Industries’ (AI’s) Bardon Hill Quarry in Leicestershire was short-listed for the Biodiversity Award alongside Tarmac. Bardon Hill, one of Europe’s biggest quarries, was awarded The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark in 2008. The quarry is home to the southern marsh orchid, the jay, and 200 hundred species of spider, including the rare Charnwood spider.
Although Bardon Hill missed out on the Award for Biodiversity, AI’s A38 Glynn Valley Project won the Sustain Magazine Award for Construction.
A further Biodiversity Benchmark holder, Marshalls, took home the Sustain Magazine Award for Governance, for its Carbon labelling scheme as well as the overall Gold Award for Sustainability, Business and the Business Environment.
Howard Park, corporate relations manager for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “It is wonderful to see so many of our Biodiversity Benchmark clients featuring in the Sustain magazine awards, particularly in the Biodiversity category. Every organisation which owns or uses land can help protect and restore our native wildlife by managing it with the environment in mind and I hope that Tarmac’s success at Sustain magazine awards will encourage even more organisations to meet the challenge of the Biodiversity Benchmark.”