MPA to celebrate the industry’s restoration and biodiversity achievements over last five decades
THE Mineral Products Association’s Quarries & Nature 2021 event will take the form of an hour-long online showcase of the great work that the industry has delivered over the last 50 years, celebrating the scale and diversity of the restoration, biodiversity and conservation work undertaken by members.
Filmed on location across a range of restored sites, including Ouse Fen Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire, part of the Hanson-RSPB Wetland Project which will deliver the UK’s largest reedbed, BBC Presenter Sybil Ruscoe will be joined by leading nature conservationists Tony Juniper, chair, Natural England; Beccy Speight, chief executive of RSPB; and Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts; together with representatives from partner organizations, member companies and the MPA.
In the 50th anniversary year of the first industry Restoration Awards, the event will feature progress over the years and an overview of the habitats, species and work that the industry is pioneering to support, conserve and restore biodiversity. The winners of the MPA Nature Photo Competition 2021 will also be revealed.
Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA, said: ‘The UK quarrying industry has long recognized the opportunity to enhance biodiversity through careful quarry restoration, with the first formal restoration plans devised and implemented in the 1950s. But in 1971 the Sand and Gravel Association (SAGA), one of the predecessor organisations that merged with others to eventually form the MPA, hosted the first awards to celebrate the restoration of quarries.
‘In the year of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15 part 1) we are proud to tell the 50-year success story of our industry’s contribution to restoration and biodiversity with priority habitats the size of Nottingham already delivered and more the size of Liverpool on the way.’
MPA is marking the 50 days until 13 October on Twitter and LinkedIn by highlighting one mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, invertebrate or plant which has flourished thanks to the restoration and ongoing management of former quarries.
Quarries & Nature 2021 will take place on Wednesday 13 October (from 11am) and attendance is free of charge. To attend the event, register here
