Aggregate Industries took up The Wildlife Trusts’ challenge to the industry in 2007 to seek its Biodiversity Benchmark, and has today (Friday 7^th March 2008) received the award for sustained land management at its Little Paxton Quarry near St Neots in Cambridgeshire.

The Biodiversity Benchmark is a rigorously audited certification which demonstrates a validated commitment to biodiversity by businesses working hard to protect and enhance their local environment.  Little Paxton gained the award for its continuing commitment to creating and improving wildlife habitats at the quarry and its nature reserve, which last year recorded 160 different bird species. 

Little Paxton Quarry, a sand and gravel extraction operation adjacent to Paxton Pits Nature Reserve, has been managed with sensitivity to wildlife over the past decade.  Both form an important wetland which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.   Part of the site has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England, in recognition of its importance for wintering water birds, many of which visit from Russia and the high Arctic.  

To achieve the Biodiversity Benchmark, Little Paxton Quarry works to an exacting Biodiversity Action Plan to ensure proper site management, allowing wildlife value to be improved for the long term. Quarry staff work closely with local birdwatchers and a team of volunteers from the Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve (FPPNR) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to monitor activities across the area each year.

Darren Griffiths, Quarry Manager at Little Paxton, said: "As a result of going through the Biodiversity Benchmark, even for a site of such national recognition as Little Paxton, we were able to identify areas where further enhancement and protection of biodiversity could be implemented.  We are now able to clearly demonstrate areas of the site which are subject to legislation and require external monitoring. 

”Whilst attaining the Biodiversity Benchmark was hard work and time consuming, we feel the long term payback of enhancement across Little Paxton Quarry, and the development of our relationship with our external partners, more than exceeds the initial investment of time."   

Since starting its Biodiversity Action Plan recent work has involved the management of shorelines, creation of an island for ground-nesting birds, re-profiling of an existing island to allow future management by control of water levels and maintaining viewpoints on the Ouse Valley Way long-distance footpath. Volunteers from the Friends also used their long experience of habitat management on the adjacent Reserve to support the Company’s plan to extend Paxton Pits Nature Reserve as part of a recent application to extract the remaining minerals at the site. 

Michael Allen, Chairman, The Wildlife Trusts, said: “There is increasing awareness amongst the business community of the need to develop more sustainable business operations. I am delighted that Aggregate Industries is at the forefront of organisations who have achieved the Biodiversity Benchmark.

“I know the site at Little Paxton well and have enjoyed many hours observing all kinds of wildlife there - but in a man-made environment such as this, the richness of flora and fauna does not happen by accident.  Aggregate Industries, together with all their partners and volunteer supporters, have worked incredibly hard to achieve The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark. Every organisation that owns or uses land can help protect and restore our native wildlife by managing their land with the environment in mind. I hope that this example will encourage many more organisations to meet the challenge of the Biodiversity Benchmark.”

Little Paxton won two prestigious awards in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Business Bird Challenge 2006 which recognises the best bird conservation initiatives nationwide.  Hard work by local birdwatchers, conservation volunteers and quarry staff resulted in the quarry scooping the Conservation and Bird Species categories in the Large Quarry section.  This is the third year of awards for Little Paxton Quarry in the BTO Business Bird Challenge, having previously won in 2002 and 2004.  

The pioneering Biodiversity Benchmark enables organisations across the country to assess the quality of their land management, improve their contribution to the environment and demonstrate their commitment to biodiversity through performance and partnership. 

Similar to other standards for management systems, the Biodiversity Benchmark is composed of a set of detailed requirements which an organisation must be able to demonstrate that they meet. Furthermore, it is the first truly recognised endorsement to acknowledge organisations who continually commit to biodiversity improvement.