Biodiversity and geodiversity.

Performance indicators

• Trees planted: 195,778
• Hedgerow planted: 19.1 kilometres
• Designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in each condition category: (not yet available)

Current position

MPA members make a substantial contribution to nature conservation. Many varied and often rare habitats are created by the industry, which often have a greater value to biodiversity than the habitats removed by quarrying. The work of the Minerals and Nature Conservation Forum directly contributes to the improved understanding of this issue through empirical research.

Biodiversity contributions can be complicated and expensive to measure across very large landholdings and precise data are only available for specific sites. We have chosen two indicators that should provide a fair reflection of our performance in this area and are also practical to measure and report. They are, however, dependent on the scale of restoration and landscaping work that is taking place. While we have been able to identify the volume of tree and hedge planting, the link between quarry operations and SSSI condition in England remains uncertain due to difficulties in interrogating the existing English Nature SSSI database.

It has previously been estimated that some 700 SSSIs were originally quarries or part of land owned by mineral operators. The survey indicated that MPA members’ operations were associated with 219 sites with statutory designations such as SSSIs, NNRs, SPAs or RAMSARs. The aggregates industry is also one of the major tree planters in the UK.

Aspirations

We aspire to help nature conservation agencies to achieve the Public Service Agreement target of 95 per cent of all SSSIs in favourable condition by 2010.We would also like to investigate how we can increase the industry’s contribution to international, national, and local Biodiversity and Geodiversity Action Plans (BAPs and GAPs).