BirdLife 100 World Congress members visit Hanson-RSPB wetland project

We were delighted to welcome members of the BirdLife 100 World Congress to RSPB Ouse Fen nature reserve in Cambridgeshire.

The two visits were part of celebrations to mark 100 years of BirdLife, the largest partnership for nature in the world, which works in 115 countries. The organisation holds its world congress every four or five years, hosted by different BirdLife partners, which this year is the RSPB, our partner in Ouse Fen.

We already have a strong partnership with BirdLife International through our parent company Heidelberg Materials. For the last decade, this partnership has been based on the shared values of promoting and protecting biodiversity while using natural resources sustainably; aims which form part of our 2030 sustainability commitments.

The Hanson-RSPB wetland project at Ouse Fen is creating the UK’s biggest reedbed – an extremely rare habitat and home to many different bird species – using restored land from our Needingworth quarry, which we have transferred to the RSPB to manage. It is the largest planned nature conservation restoration scheme of its kind in Europe and demonstrates how collaborative working between industry and the conservation sector can deliver exemplar restoration schemes.

Jonathan Taylor, RSPB senior project manager, said: “The visits were another opportunity to share the success and significance of our partnership project with Hanson at Ouse Fen with an international audience.”