How your business can boost biodiversity this winter

As the big freeze threatens to hit, help minimise your business’s impact on the natural environment, while demonstrating your company ethos to employees and local community

As colder weather beckons, biodiversity experts are warning that it’s not just homeowners and residents who should be looking to help wildlife survive the temperature drop – offices and factories also have a crucial role to play in maintaining local biodiversity.

The team of sustainability experts at AB Sustain have issued their top tips for office and factory sites, to ensure they help birds and small animals get through the long, cold months ahead:

• Put out bird food in harsh weather on the land around your site. A selection of shelled peanuts, sunflower hearts, fat balls and niger seeds will feed many species

• Do not forget ground-feeding species that will be unwilling to use feeders (blackbirds, dunnocks, etc). Sprinkle some sunflower hearts on the ground for them

• Old fruit left over from meetings or lunchtimes will be ideal for several members of the thrush family, such as blackbirds, redwings and fieldfares

• Keep any ponds, fountains or other bodies of water on your site from freezing by floating a rubber ball in the water. This will reduce ice formation, as the wind blows it around

• Shallow containers of water can provide baths but need regular replacement, as they freeze

• Do not tidy up your grounds too well. Piles of leaves, plant stems and compost heaps all play host to wildlife. Consider setting aside an area of land on your site to encourage greater biodiversity

• If you find hibernating animals (e.g. hedgehogs in piles of leaves) anywhere on your site, leave them undisturbed.

Johanna Buitelaar Warden, head of business development at AB Sustain, says: “There are lots of reasons why very cold or even freezing weather can be a big problem for the wildlife around your business. For example, freezing weather reduces availability of water – a problem for birds, which need water to drink and to bathe in, to maintain feather condition. Snow cover can also cause problems for birds that hunt small mammals, which continue to be active under the snow and out of sight. Barn owls were hit badly by snow over the past two winters and many starved.

“The right approach and a bit of thought can really minimise your business’s impact on the natural environment and enhance the positives. It can also demonstrate both internally and externally your company ethos, contribute to employee wellbeing and help position your brand and develop relationships with the local community.”

AB Sustain specialises in working with clients to design, develop and deliver programmes that protect the environment, without compromising key business goals. The company works with retailers and brand owners, delivering brand differentiation by designing innovative sustainability projects and programmes. A skilled team of experienced specialists can help maximise the environmental value of a business site, ranging from an office or factory to a hotel, a golf course or even hospitals and care homes.

Notes to editors:

AB Sustain works with clients to develop and deliver sustainable supply chain solutions across food, agriculture and natural resources. Working with retailers and brand owners, we focus on brand protection and implement innovative sustainability projects and programmes, to deliver real value to our clients. We have a skilled team of experienced specialists in each competency including animal welfare, supply chain management, greenhouse gas modelling and biodiversity.

We have extensive experience in working along the whole supply chain, from retailer back to farm. We understand the consumer-facing issues and produce practical, robust and credible programmes that deliver tangible results.

AB Sustain is a division of AB Agri Ltd, the agriculture group of Associated British Foods. This allows us to offer our clients the personal service of a small business underpinned with the credibility and security of a successful and respected multi-national PLC

For more information, contact:

Laura Gould / Rob Metcalfe

Richmond Towers Communications

26 Fitzroy Square

London

W1T 6BT

Tel: 020 7554 4481 / 020 7388 7421

Email: laura@rt-com.com / rob@rt-com.com

Tags: