The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark recognises continual nature enhancement and protection on a business’s landholding.
It is the only award in the UK to recognise such an achievement and the site in North Wales is the largest industrial manufacturing site in Wales to currently hold the prestigious title thanks to the ongoing nature restoration and careful management on the land that surrounds the works.
Tata Steel’s North Wales site is home to a wide variety of wildlife that take advantage of the mosaic of habitats, including grassland, woodland, reedbeds and other wetlands found there. Grass snakes, badgers, dragonflies and over 80 species of birds are known to make the site their home.
The common tern is an amber listed bird which means that there are concerns about its future survival. This species has been encouraged to nest at the site through the provision of nesting rafts and the creation of islands in the site’s lagoons. Numbers of common tern chicks fledging have increased from 17 in 1970 to now almost 400 fledglings a year. The colony is one of the largest in Wales and one of the top five colonies in the UK.
The Shotton Works site also has designated Ramsar Site areas, being a wetland habitat of international importance, and tidal marshes and reed beds play an important role in drawing down and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
But it is not only the wildlife that benefits from Tata’s land management at the site. It’s well known that spending time in nature supports people’s physical and mental wellbeing and so a number of walking routes on site are available for employees, complete with bird hides and an education centre. The company’s wellbeing environment team also organises ranger-led guided walks, clean-up days and hosts school visits.
Speaking about the achievement, Matthew Roberts, Works Manager at Shotton, says: “In a world that is faced with a climate emergency, at Shotton Works we are committed to providing a positive environmental legacy. Part of this includes protecting biodiversity for future generations and ensuring our industrial operations both coexist and enhance the natural environment around us. While the built environment has very much been a part of how people have commodified nature, putting severe and unsustainable pressure on ecosystems, it now has an important role to play in protecting biodiversity for the future.”
“When we first launched the Shotton Sustainability Commitment in 2022, our ambition was to achieve The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark, and we are so proud and delighted to have now received that accreditation.”
Emma Wright, Quality Health Safety and Environmental Graduate at Tata Steel’s Shotton Works, adds: “The achievement is testament to our company-wide commitment to conserving, enhancing and restoring biodiversity for future generations and is credit to the positive changes and processes we have implemented, all with the aim of maximising the biodiversity that we live side by side with.
“The assessment by The Wildlife Trusts praised several areas of best practice, including the Shotton Works evident commitment over the last 50 years to protect and grow the site’s common tern colony (now one of the top five colonies in the UK), the external audits of compliance and the documentation of biodiversity initiatives, all captured in a thoughtfully curated biodiversity brochure featuring stunning on-site photography and also the wellbeing benefits including hosting school visits and guided walks of the site.”
The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Corporate Partnerships, Emma Price-Thomas, says: “Congratulations to Tata Steel for achieving The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark for land management within its Shotton site in Deeside.
“Achieving this challenging standard is testament to Tata Steel and the commitment of its employees to protecting and improving wildlife on this site.
“The protection and enhancement of the area that many species call home, species which are struggling such as the common tern, is crucial if we are to succeed in bringing nature back.
“We look forward to Tata Steel continuing to manage its land for wildlife and annually maintaining The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark at their site for the long-term.”
Designed to complement the business standard ISO 14001, Biodiversity Benchmark empowers land-owning businesses to make a meaningful impact for nature by certifying their land management systems. Through strategic planning, ecological monitoring, and community involvement, Biodiversity Benchmark holders have turned their sites into vibrant ecosystems, fostering long-term environmental stewardship and biodiversity resilience.
Businesses from a wide range of sectors hold Biodiversity Benchmark accreditation at their sites, from business parks to water companies. To find out more about how businesses can contribute to nature’s recovery through land management, search ‘The Wildlife Trusts Biodiversity Benchmark’.