11am, Wednesday 13 October 2021

MPA’s Quarries & Nature 2021 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. Attendance is free of charge and is open to anyone in the industry plus their professional contacts and networks. Register here free of charge and share this link with colleagues.

Filmed on location at 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, RSPB and Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts, together with representatives from partner organisations, member companies and MPA.

In the 50th anniversary year of the first industry Restoration Awards, the story 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, MPA Chief Executive said:

“The UK quarrying industry has long recognised 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. Follow these on Twitter @MineralProduct and @Quarries_Nature and on LinkedIn @Mineral-Product-Association and share.

Programme may be subject to change.

Ends.

About the Mineral Products Association:

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) is the trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and silica sand industries. With the merger of British Precast, and affiliation of the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR), Eurobitume, MPA Northern Ireland, MPA Scotland and the British Calcium Carbonate Federation, it has a growing membership of 520 companies and is the sectoral voice for mineral products. MPA membership is made up of the vast majority of independent SME quarrying companies throughout the UK, as well as the 9 major international and global companies. It covers 100% of UK cement and lime production, 90% of GB aggregates production, 95% of asphalt and over 70% of ready-mixed concrete and precast concrete production. In 2018, the industry supplied £16 billion worth of materials and services to the Economy. It is also the largest supplier to the construction industry, which had annual output valued at £172 billion in 2018. Industry production represents the largest materials flow in the UK economy and is also one of the largest manufacturing sectors.

www.mineralproducts.org.

For media enquiries, contact Elizabeth Clements at: Elizabeth.Clements@mineralproducts.org ; tel: 07775 894 285