The function that quarrying can play in nature restoration and biodiversity achieve was celebrated on the Quarries & Nature 2025 awards ceremony throughout March, hosted by the Mineral Merchandise Affiliation (MPA).
It’s an occasion supposed to laud the perfect present examples of wildlife habitat creation by the delicate operation, administration and restoration of mineral extraction websites, say the organizers.
Amongst these talking and presenting awards have been Chair of Pure England Tony Juniper CBE, RSPB Chief Govt Beccy Speight and Director of Panorama Restoration at The Wildlife Trusts, Rob Stoneman.
Tony Juniper stated: “A few of these restoration schemes are actually fairly mind-blowing, delivering nature restoration at scale, concurrently producing the sources we have to construct houses and infrastructure, creating landscapes that help local weather resilience, whereas additionally creating incredible locations for households to get near wildlife.
“All of this presents a massive opportunity for a country that’s struggling to meet competing environmental goals. With better strategic planning, more joined-up thinking and with all stakeholders on board, the mineral products industry could be a famous vanguard in building a truly sustainable society.”
Beccy Speight stated: “We’ve seen some incredible restoration work at Quarries & Nature, and I applaud mineral merchandise for being an trade that has the ambition and is getting on with it, proving it might ship financial development and nature restoration on the similar time.
“There’s an urgent need to create new habitats, to create more space for nature, and that’s exactly what the industry is doing. To see that happening is really inspiring. We’ve seen powerful examples of what’s possible when business and conservation work together, and I encourage MPA members to sustain their ambition and keep delivering innovative solutions to help nature flourish, because we need it now more than ever.”
Now of their 54th yr, the independently-judged awards have reportedly celebrated tons of of former quarries remodeled into new areas for wildlife. Certainly, lots of the UK’s most treasured nature reserves and nation parks have been created by quarrying, says the MPA, and its members “continue to bring to fruition new areas of habitat that support some of the UK’s rarest and most endangered species”.
Lex Russell, MPA Chair, stated: “The mineral merchandise trade is unrivalled by every other in the case of a mix of experience and on-the-ground supply for nature. Working with associate organisations, MPA members have a confirmed monitor report in the case of growing biodiversity by quarry restoration and land administration.
“This year’s Quarries & Nature awards provide more evidence of the extensive legacy the industry has built over decades. There has never been a more important moment to recognise the essential role of domestic raw materials in the economy and our society, alongside the long-term contribution the industry makes to nature. While others talk about potential, minerals producers have actually been delivering positive outcomes and we are committed to doing so going forward.”
The 2025 awards noticed virtually 40 entries from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Eire in the primary Restoration award and 4 Biodiversity award classes of Innovation, Panorama Scale, Deliberate Restoration, and Particular person & Group Contribution.
Winners of the Cooper-Heyman Cup for excellent achievement in quarry restoration have been Tarmac and RSPB at Langford Quarry close to Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. The partnership has “transformed an area of 122 hectares of the former sand and gravel quarry into a mosaic of wetlands, lowland meadows, wet woodland and agriculture”.
The judges stated that “this highly impressive site is a key component of the wider landscape-scale restoration works being undertaken along the Trent by the minerals sector” and there was a “high level of expertise shown in the design and delivery in partnership with the RSPB”.
Extremely recommended within the restoration class have been Heidelberg with Smiths Concrete and Warwickshire Wildlife Belief for Bubbenhall Wooden and Meadows Nature Reserve; and in Oxfordshire Smith & Sons (Bletchington) with Linear Fisheries (Oxford) have been extremely recommended for Tar Farm Lakes.
Within the Biodiversity – Innovation class, which recognises imaginative approaches that advance greatest practices, the winners have been Tarmac with Cranfield College for measuring and integrating biodiversity internet achieve and carbon sequestration into restoration at Maxey Quarry in Cambridgeshire and Wivenhoe Quarry in Essex. Runners up within the Innovation class have been Cemex for the conservation grazing utilizing a ‘virtual fence’ at Rugeley Quarry close to Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.
Staffordshire restoration schemes have been additionally joint winners of the Biodiversity – Panorama Scale class, which celebrates tasks that join with their environment to ship on the Lawton rules of ‘Making Space for Nature’(1) — extra, larger, higher and joined areas of nature conservation. Holcim at Cauldon Cement Quarry and Caldon Low Combination Quarry shared the prize with Heidelberg at Barton Quarry. Extremely recommended within the Panorama Scale class have been Tarmac for Arcow and Dry Rigg Quarries in North Yorkshire and Holcim for Little Paxton Quarry in Cambridgeshire.
Winner of the Biodiversity – Deliberate Restoration class, highlighting schemes which can be accredited however but to be delivered, and can ship biodiversity advantages in future, was Heidelberg for restoration at Birch Quarry in Essex, with Tarmac extremely recommended for his or her work at Wivenhoe Quarry, additionally in Essex.
Lastly, 5 individuals obtained awards for his or her private dedication and contribution to enhancing biodiversity at restored quarries, together with awards for a quarry workforce and a volunteer group which have gone above and past, and the 15-year conservation partnership between Cemex and the RSPB.
Mark Russell, MPA Govt Director of Planning & Mineral Sources, stated: “We are delighted that our achievements continue to be recognised by the UK’s leading conservation bodies with whom we have longstanding partnerships. Unfortunately the Government consistently fails to appreciate how our industry is uniquely placed to directly help convert aspirations for nature recovery and biodiversity into leadership and action on the ground. We hope that this year’s Quarries & Nature event triggers wider recognition and debate. Besides providing essential, domestically sourced materials, we are one of the few industries that has demonstrated time and again it can deliver tangible solutions to the UK’s nature recovery challenges, and we are ready to work with all stakeholders to protect and enhance biodiversity.”
“The minerals industry has a long and proven track record of delivering new areas for wildlife through the responsible management, restoration and aftercare of quarries. In partnership with the leading conservation bodies, our sector has already created more than 90 square kilometres of priority habitat with a further 110 square kilometres already planned and committed.”
MPA Quarries & Nature Awards: Winners and commendations
